‘Very, very aggressive’ North Miami uses running game to beat Caston, wrap up Hoosier North

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Parker Zimpleman

FULTON — Jake Riley reached base all five times at-bat and stole three of his team’s 14 bases, and Braylon McIntire pitched a four-hitter to lead the Class 1A, No. 9 North Miami baseball team to a 12-3 win over Class 1A, No. 10 Caston Friday.

North Miami improved to 18-3 overall and 15-0 in the Hoosier North. North Miami clinched the conference title in their first year in the conference.

Caston dropped to 16-7, 12-2. One year after winning the Hoosier North, they are assured of sole possession of second place this year.

Caston travels to North Miami Tuesday. They will close out conference play with a trip to Oregon-Davis Thursday.

North Miami had 10 hits, drew eight walks and were also hit by two pitches. Caston also committed four errors on a blustery night at home that also featured a 64-minute rain delay in the top of the fifth inning.

But corralling North Miami’s running game turned out to be a tough task.

“They just were having tremendous jumps,” Caston coach Blake Mollenkopf said. “It was a combination of not holding runners well from the mound. And then they ran on good pitch selections, and then too, it’s being able to throw them out from behind the plate. So it’s a combination, but most of it is their jumps. They’re very, very aggressive, almost super aggressive. If you can handle it, you get them out pretty easily. If you don’t, they’ll run wild on you like they did tonight.”

Freshman third baseman Parker Zimpleman went 2 for 3 and drove in all three Caston runs. He had a two-out, two-run single in the fourth that ticked off the left fielder’s glove as he charged in due to the wind. He also had an RBI bloop single in the sixth.

“Parker’s been playing really well for us over the last few weeks,” coach Mollenkopf said. “And so he did come up with a big hit there. I know it wasn’t on a line, but he got it to drop and a couple ribbies there. He’s playing some good third base. Just getting more comfortable. He’s got a bright future.”

Freshman Logan Mollenkopf took the loss on the mound. He gave up Jake Riley’s triple to lead off the game. Riley then scored on a wild pitch. He gave up Lake Musall’s two-out, two-run single later in the first inning.

He finished with five runs allowed (all earned) in three innings. He allowed five hits, four walks and a hit batter, and he struck out four. Eli Holloway and Noah Herd followed with two innings of relief each. Of the six runs that Holloway allowed, only one was earned.

As for McIntire, the diminutive right-hander – he stands just 5-5 – had a Caston connection: His father Eric is a 1995 Caston grad and a former Caston baseball player, and the McIntire family is close friends with Caston brothers Noah and London Herd.

With help from his pickoff of Gavin Mollenkopf at first base to end the first inning, he faced the minimum nine batters through three innings.

“I felt like early in the game, we chased some things out of the zone,” coach Mollenkopf said. “And when he does that, when he gets you chasing, he’s very effective. Not an overpowering guy with his fastball, but he likes to use his off-speed, and when you help with that off-speed out of the zone, he becomes very effective.”

North Miami took a 3-0 lead in the first. Riley led off with a triple and scored on a wild pitch. Lake Musall added a two-out, two-run single later in the inning.

North Miami made it 5-0 in the third. Drew Wright reached on an infield single with one out and went to second on McIntire’s walk. Wright stole third and scored when Musall lined a single to right. Courtesy runner Quinn Hostetler scooted from first to third on the hit and scored on Ray Pickett’s sacrifice fly to shallow right.

Riley walked off Holloway to lead off the fourth. He stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored when he beat the throw home on Ryan Meredith’s fielder’s choice grounder.

Zimpleman’s two-run single cut the margin to 6-2 in the fourth.

Then came the long, long top of the fifth in which North Miami scored five runs, all with two outs. McIntire capped the rally with a two-run bloop single to make it 11-2.

After a layoff of over an hour on the mound, McIntire struck out the side in the bottom of the fifth.

North Miami 12, Caston 3

North Miami 302 150 1 – 12 10 0

Caston 000 201 0 – 3 4 4

WP – Braylon McIntire (7 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 6 BB, 2 HBP, 9 K)

LP – Logan Mollenkopf (3 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 1 HBP, 4 K)

2B – Isaac Floyd (NM), Eli Holloway (CAS)

3B – Jake Riley (NM)