Spin pitches Caston past West Central

Comets meet goal of scoring early, will play North White next

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Joey Spin pitched a seven-hitter with seven strikeouts and also went 3 for 3 with two runs scored at the plate to lead the No. 9 Caston baseball team to a 4-2 win over West Central in a Class 1A, Sectional 52 quarterfinal at Caston Wednesday.

Jackson Rentschler added two hits and two RBIs, and Sam Smith had a hit and an RBI. Talon Zeider had a single and a run scored.

Spin had two singles and a triple at the plate. On the mound, he walked only one, and both runs he allowed were unearned due to two Caston errors.

Caston coach Blake Mollenkopf emphasized scoring early off West Central pitcher Josiah Rodriguez, and his players responded by scoring three runs in the top of the first.

“Rodriguez does a nice job on the mound keeping hitters off balance for West Central,” Mollenkopf said. “Our goal was to try to put a couple runs early on him. The trend of teams who beat West Central with him on the mound is to score early before he settles in. Scoring three in the top of the first was key.”

Caston improved to 17-6 and will play North White, who received a bye, in the semifinals at noon Saturday. Caston defeated North White 18-3 in five innings on April 14 in their regular season meeting.

West Central finished 7-14.

Game time was moved up from 6 p.m. to 5 p.m. due to a forecast of rainy weather.

Caston is seeking their first sectional title since 2012.

Caston 4, West Central 2

Caston 301 000 0 – 4 7 2

West Central 001 001 0 – 2 7 1

WP – Joey Spin (7 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K)

LP – Rodriguez (7 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 10 K)

2B – Jackson Rentschler (CAS)

3B – Joey Spin (CAS)