Caston

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Noah Herd Gavin Mollenkopf

Baseball

Caston 18, Argos 1 (5 innings, Tuesday)

Carson Harness tossed a one-hitter with 14 strikeouts and added three hits and two RBIs at the plate for the visiting Comets as they improved to 4-0 in the Hoosier North Tuesday.

Drew McGrew singled and drove in three runs, and Parker Zimpleman had two hits and two RBIs. Gavin Mollenkopf and Lane Halterman had two hits and two RBIs each.

Logan Mollenkopf, Eli Holloway and Tucker Woolever each had a hit and an RBI.

Argos pitchers walked six and hit 10 batters. The Dragons also committed six errors, which led to 12 unearned runs.

Boyd Paul had Argos’ lone hit off Harness. Joel Trump scored on a passed ball in the bottom of the third.

Willie Barenie took the loss for Argos, allowing five hits and 16 runs (five earned) in ⅔ of an inning. Zayne Ruby relieved and allowed five hits and two runs (one earned) in 4 ⅓ innings. He walked one, hit six batters and fanned six.

Argos fell to 0-4 in the Hoosier North.

Caston scored 16 runs in the top of the first.

Caston 18, Argos 1 (5 innings)

Caston (16)01 01 – 18 10 2

Argos 001 00 – 1 1 6

WP – Carson Harness (5 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 14 K)

LP – Willie Barenie (⅔ IP, 5 H, 16 R, 5 ER, 5 BB, 4 HBP, 1 K)

2B – Carson Harness (CAS)

Caston 21, Argos 0 (5 innings, Monday)

FULTON — Logan Mollenkopf and London Herd combined on a three-hit shutout, and Noah Herd homered as part of a five-RBI game as the Caston baseball team opened a two-game series with a rout of Hoosier North rival Argos at home Monday.

Gavin Mollenkopf also had two hits and five RBIs for the Comets. He had a triple, a double and four RBIs in Caston’s 11-run second inning.

Sophomore shortstop Eli Holloway went 3 for 3 with two singles, a bloop double, two walks and two RBIs, and sophomore center fielder Drew McGrew went 2 for 2 with two runs scored.

Lane Halterman had a hit and two RBIs, and Logan Mollenkopf also had two RBIs.

Caston also received 12 walks and two hit batters from Argos pitching.

“We wanted to make sure they were getting it in the zone tonight, and when they were in the zone, we wanted to be aggressive, and I thought we did that pretty well tonight,” Caston coach Blake Mollenkopf said. “I felt like Gavin got a nice triple there, and then Noah hit the home run, and it kind of loosened things up.”

Dominic Burns, Boyd Paul and Ioan Petz each had a hit for Argos (0-5, 0-3 Hoosier North).

Logan Mollenkopf pitched the first four innings and allowed three hits and a walk and struck out seven. London Herd, a freshman lefty like Logan Mollenkopf, walked David Adey but struck out Brayden Bean, Joel Trump and Paul to end the game.

Paul reached on an error to lead off the game and advanced to second on a groundout and to third on a passed ball, but Logan Mollenkopf struck out Brady Montgomery looking to end the inning, and Argos never got another runner as far as third.

Noah Herd’s RBI grounder in the first gave Caston a 1-0 lead, but Adey stranded the bases loaded. Gavin Mollenkopf’s two-run triple to the left-center field alley made it 3-0, and Noah Herd followed by swatting a line-drive two-run homer to left.

Harness later scored when Woolever reached on an error. Zimpleman scored on a wild pitch, Logan Mollenkopf had an RBI walk, Holloway had a two-run single, and Gavin Mollenkopf had a two-run double.

Holloway was primarily the designated hitter last year as a freshman. Now he’s part of a sophomore group along with Harness and McGrew who have become lineup regulars out in the field. Holloway said he’s played a lot of shortstop in travel ball.

Holloway said that hitting No. 2 in the batting order sometimes means he has to take a strike to allow Logan Mollenkopf a chance to steal if he is on base ahead of him.

“I’ve definitely been more patient and been able to see the ball a lot more,” Holloway said. “Usually I hit first-pitch strike. That’s usually what I’ve been hitting off this year.”

Holloway said he has been playing baseball since he was “4 for 5.”

“Everything,” Holloway said when he was asked what he loved about the sport. “I love the excitement of it. I love being with teammates and being with coaches. Going through high school is fun with all the players.”

Woolever’s RBI double, Halterman’s two-run single, Gavin Mollenkopf’s RBI groundout and Noah Herd’s opposite-field, two-run single to right made it 18-0 in the third.

Reserve Kameron Clingler’s RBI single made it 19-0 in the fourth. Logan Mollenkopf would add an RBI groundout, and Clingler would later score when Gavin Mollenkopf reached on an error.

Woolever, Halterman and McGrew give Caston a potentially potent bottom-third of the batting order.

“Really good,” coach Mollenkopf said of that trio. “Their main job, and I’ve told them since day one especially in the 8-9 hole is get on base two times a game. I’m a Reds fan, and (manager) Terry Francona says that a lot about his 8-9 guys. I try to do that too. But Tucker in the 7 spot has really added some pop. When you play as many freshmen as we do, you wonder how quickly they’ll transition and what they’ll do, but he’s adjusted really well. In a sense too, he had a concussion from football in eighth grade, so he didn’t get to play eighth grade baseball, so he was great in the winter and offseason, and it’s translated out here, and I’m happy for him, and he’s hitting the fastball really well.”

Caston 21, Argos 0 (5 innings, Monday)

Argos 000 00 – 0 3 2

Caston 1(11)6 5X – 21 13 1

WP – Logan Mollenkopf (4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K)

LP – David Adey (1 ⅔ IP, 4 H, 12 R, 5 ER, 10 BB, 1 HBP, 2 K)

2B – Drew McGrew (CAS), Gavin Mollenkopf (CAS), Tucker Woolever (CAS), Eli Holloway (CAS)

3B – Gavin Mollenkopf (CAS)

HR – Noah Herd (CAS)