CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton baseball team went 1-1 with Plymouth State in Saturday's two-game Little East Conference series, taking a 10-9 loss followed by a 16-15 victory.
Ryan Lawrence had a strong four-hit day, knocking a pair in each contest, with two doubles and three RBIs at the ninth spot. Fellow grad student Reece de Castro also tacked on a quartet of hits including a homer while adding five RBIs, three walks, and four runs scored. Another bat that collected four hits was Hunter Perkins, getting on base thrice via walk and scoring a team-high five times. Jackson Cardozo was a game-two standout, going 4-for-5 with a double, four runs, and a stolen base.
The Spartans (13-17, 3-8 LEC) received hits from all 11 batters including eight with multiple base knocks.
Game 1: Plymouth State 10, Castleton 9
Riley Orr turned in his fifth quality start of the season, going 6.1 innings with two earned runs on eight hits with five strikeouts. Adam Winchell saw 2.1 frames of action in relief, fanning three with one earned run. Brayden Howrigan needed just three pitches to retire the Panthers' (9-15, 2-8 LEC) final hitter in the ninth. Seven of the 10 runs allowed were unearned.
After Orr shut down the PSU offense with three consecutive strikeouts in the second inning, the offense kicked into gear. Perkins started with a single, moving into scoring position on an Addison Schaub sac bunt. Jack Boyle shot a double down the right field line for an RBI to get on the scoreboard. A groundout by Kannon Dush put Boyle at third, then Lawrence deposited an opposite-field RBI single for a two-run stanza.
The Panthers retaliated in the top of the third, scoring four runs on four hits while forcing a Spartan miscue. Back-and-forth offense commenced until the sixth inning when Perkins got a leadoff single as Schaub followed with a two-run blast to tie it 4-4. However, PSU returned the favor with a five-spot in the next half-inning.
No stranger to surging late in ballgames, Castleton chomped at the 9-4 deficit in the eighth. With one away, Dush and Lawrence collected back-to-back doubles to cut the gap to four. De Castro pulled a single to left field as Lawrence hustled to score. Next up was Tyler McLain, right on time with his third career homer to bring the Spartans within one. PSU tallied one run in the top of the ninth as Howrigan stranded runners on all three bases.
Perkins' leadoff abilities came through again with a single as Schaub drew a walk, putting two aboard with no outs. Boyle laid down a perfectly-placed bunt that allowed all runners to reach safely. A wild pitch tempted Perkins as the senior dashed home, slipping under the catcher's mitt to put the Spartans 90 feet away from a tied game. However, the Panthers retired three of the next four hitters to escape with a 10-9 win.
Game 2: Castleton 16, Plymouth State 15
Aubrey Ramey started the second contest, striking out three but allowing 10 hits and six earned runs in 4.2 innings. Howrigan, Joseph Voli, and Stephen Coffey also made appearances with Voli earning the victory to improve to 5-1.
Ramey worked around a leadoff double from PSU to retire three in a row. To start the home half, de Castro singled and McLain drew a walk. Cardozo grounded to the pitcher, but an errant throw to second base allowed de Castro to round third and score. Perkins walked to load the bases as Brandon Ramirez followed with a misplayed grounder to third base for an RBI. Dush reached via fielder's choice to plate another, closing the opening stanza with a 3-0 advantage.
The Panthers benefitted from a two-run blast in the second frame, cutting the lead to 3-2. De Castro responded accordingly with a solo slam of his own, the Rutland, Vt. native's sixth of the year. One inning later, Ramirez wore a pitch and Dush singled with nobody out. Trey LaVigne dropped a bunt single as an off-target throw allowed Ramirez to score, extending the lead back to three. PSU tied the game at 5-5 following a four-hit fourth inning.
A bases-loaded wild pitch gave CU a one-run edge after four complete, but the Panthers gained their first lead of the game with another four-hit frame in the fifth. Lawrence tagged a double in the bottom half, moving to third on a passed ball. McLain lofted a sacrifice fly, plating Lawrence to tighten the gap to 8-7. Five walks in the sixth gave PSU a pair of runs as Voli entered in a bases-loaded jam, fanning the final two Panthers to escape.
Cardozo and Perkins singled to start the home half of the sixth, then Ramirez walked to put three on with no outs. After being hit three times against Union College (4/18), LaVigne ate another for an RBI hit-by-pitch. Lawrence followed with an RBI single as the Spartans were back in the mix, down 10-9.
Voli stranded two runners in the top of the seventh; in the home side, chaos ensued. Keegan and Cardozo tallied singles with a speedy Tyler Dubreuil replacing Keegan in scoring position. Perkins forced an E4 to score Dubreuil, knotting the game at 10-all. Ramirez sent a ball toward third base, but two Panthers got tangled up and the ball squirted away. Cardozo took home easily, giving Castleton the lead with two aboard and one out. Dush took four balls to make the bases juiced. Two batters later, Lawrence struck out but a passed ball allowed everyone to move up a base with another run added. That costly miscue allowed de Castro to slug a bases-clearing double to right field. McLain grounded to shortstop and a throwing error allowed him to reach and de Castro to score, making it 16-10 into the last two frames.
The Panthers began the eighth with a single and a walk, then a three-RBI homer put PSU within three. Another single and walk with one out brought Coffey into the game. Following an on-field conference, it was revealed that the game would stop at eight innings due to darkness. An ensuing HBP loaded the bases, putting the go-ahead run at the plate. A ball to the backstop was corralled by LaVigne whose toss to Coffey at home caught the runner stealing for the second out. An RBI single moments later got the Panthers within two. With runners on the corners, PSU's Luke Sokolski attempted to swipe second base and beat the throw as Jackson Curtis scored from third base. Coffey left the runner on, putting away the next batsman on strikes to bag the three-hour nightcap.
Up Next
The Spartans' next five contests are on the road, beginning with a trip to Keene State on Tuesday, April 25. First pitch against the Owls is set for 3 p.m.
