LACONIA, N.H. – The Vermont State University Castleton baseball team splits doubleheader with Plymouth St. Sunday afternoon.
GAME 1: VTSU Castleton 12, Plymouth St. 6
Plymouth started strong and took a 4-0 lead in the third inning. Sam Crawford settled in on the mound, dealing six K's, one walk, and four runs in six innings played. Sparking the energy for the Spartans was Hunter Perkins with a solo home run in the fourth to get Castleton their first run of the game.
The Spartans continued to generate momentum with a bases load in the top of the sixth. Tyler McLain hit an RBI single to advance the runners and get Jackson Cardozo home, which followed up with Tyler Bingham providing a sacrifice fly to bring Brandon Ramirez in and trail only by one to the Panthers.
Owen Phelps entered the game for Crawford in the seventh and put the Panthers away with three strikeouts to keep the momentum flowing with Castleton. The Spartans took over in the eighth by loading the bases and having Alex Bingham knock a single to bring in two runners to take the lead for the first time. Castleton continued to apply the pressure with two men on base, which set up Turner Clews to smack his second home run of the season and put the Spartans up 8-4.
Castleton entered the ninth only up by two as the Panthers earned two runs to get back within striking distance. However, costly errors by Plymouth allowed Castleton to capitalize on the opportunity and earn a run and set up Mikey Raby Jr. for a three-run home run for Castleton's third homer of the game to put the Spartans up 12-6. Phelps would seal the deal for the Spartans with the close and earn the victory after providing five strikeouts and two runs for Castleton in game 1.
GAME 2: Plymouth St. 8, VTSU Castleton 7 (11 Inn.)
In game 2, it was Castleton who took an early lead to start the game. McLain started with a double that allowed Perkins to reach home and open the scoring. A wild pitch resulted in Ramirez dashing home to earn the run and McLain would follow up on a fielder's choice on the next play to bring Castleton's lead to three after the first inning.
Plymouth's Ryan Morgado hit a two-run homer in the second to trail only by one. Castleton responded with two singles to start the third inning. With an error by the Panthers, Ramirez was able to make it home to extend Castleton's lead. Dylan Pallotto capitalized on a wild pitch to cross home plate to put the Spartans up 5-2.
Another Plymouth homerun got the Panthers back within one once again. Raby Jr answered with a double to start the fifth inning. He would make it around the bases with a wild pitching advancing him to third and Trey LaVigne hitting a single to bring him home. Kannon Dush also smashed a double to bring LaVigne home and extend Castleton's lead to seven.
The Panthers were able to collect a run in the seventh inning to trail only by two to Castleton. In the final inning, Luke Sokolski ripped a two-run triple to tie the game and bring the game to extra innings, where the Panthers would hit a single RBI walk-off to end the game in the 11th inning and split the series with Castleton.
