King edges Etiwanda on final play of game
RIVERSIDE » Some second basemen might have been caught standing around to see if their teammate made a great play.
Not Austin Castillo. Castillo made a heads-up play in the field and fired a perfect strike to the plate to throw out the potential tying run in the top of the seventh inning, as King edged Etiwanda 4-3 in a nonleague baseball game Wednesday afternoon.
Etiwanda (6-4) had runners at second and third with two outs in the seventh. Alfredo Capacete hit a high chopper to King shortstop Valente Zamora, who tried to play the ball on the short hop. The ball bounced off Zamora’s glove and rolled to the back of the infield. Austen Roellig scored easily, and Etiwanda coach Don Furnald waived Garrett Mnich home.
Castillo crossed the infield, picked up the ball and rifled a throw to catcher Eric Aguayo to get Mnich by a step.
“I always make sure to back him up on every play,” Castillo said of being in the right spot to make the final play. “I had a feeling the runner would try to score. I just picked up the ball and flung it home. Luckily it was on target.”
King coach Steve Madril was impressed with Castillo’s composure in that moment.
“He’s just a sophomore. For him to have those instincts and savvy to make that play was great to see,” Madril said.
Furnald said he had no second thoughts about sending Mnich home with a chance to tie the score.
“I would send him again,” Furnald said. “It took an amazing play and a great throw by that kid to thrown him out.”
Etiwanda grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by Luke Mariscal. The Eagles doubled that lead in the fourth inning on a two-out single by Armando Briseno. Etiwanda had opportunities to add more to that total, but mistakes on the base paths in the third and fourth innings proved costly.
King (8-3) tied the score in the bottom of the fourth, when John Stark launched a two-run home run to left field.
“I was sitting on a slider on that pitch,” Stark said. “I scooped it out of the dirt and got some runs for my team. We were not as energetic as we usually are, and something like that can really get the team fired up and rolling.”
King benefited from a fortunate bounce in the fifth inning, as Landon Greenhouse’s roller up the middle careened off second base into the outfield and allowed Diego Valverde to score the go-ahead run. The Wolves added another run in the inning, as Greenhouse raced home after Briseno made a throw on the run from third base to first base.
King used a tag-team approach on the mound Wednesday. Brandon Delgado started and allowed one run in three innings. Austen Moreno allowed a run in three innings and earned the win. Logan Hunt pitched the seventh to pick up the save.
Capacete went the distance for Eitwanda, allowing three hits in six innings. He also went 3 for 4 at the plate.