En Fuego! Castanchoa Walk-Off fuels Dubs’ Sweep

By Brandon Petersen

Someone throw a bucket of water on Caleb Castanchoa. 

The kid's on fire. 

Sunday was a day of offense at the Great Park, with the home team completing a sweep of Saint Katherine with wins of 10-9 and 15-4.

No bat reigned more supreme than Castanchoa's, who did whatever he wanted.

Westcliff's designated hitter went 7-for-8 in two games Sunday, collecting five RBIs, four runs scored, three walks, a solo homerun that dented the scoreboard in right, and the walk-off game-winning single in Game 1. 

Not a bad way to celebrate his mother, Nikki, on her special day.

"It's my mom's birthday, she's in town," Castanchoa said. "So I was just like, 'Mom, I'm going to do it for you today.' I did everything I could for her, and everyone had my back the whole time."

And he had theirs. 

"The guy is finding the grass every time he swings," Westcliff head coach Dave Shermet said. "He should be Player of the Week. In the first game, I talked to the umpires, the walk-off he had — that hit the dirt. He pulled a Vladdy Guerrero. It was a short-hop and he still hit it for the single.

"He's in a tree right now, and nobody wants to wake him up. Just let him go do his thing. He's seeing the ball. He's matured. He's made so much improvement. Put on weight, he works out with Trey (Harmon), one of the biggest guys we have, and he is just rolling right now."

The same could be said of the entire Westcliff lineup. 

The Warriors scored 33 runs in the series, churning out 46 hits and working 16 walks. 

"Everybody knows their role on this team," Castanchoa said. "And everybody serves their purpose."

The Firebirds were in no mood to roll over Sunday and led most of Game 1. 

But every time USK made noise, Westcliff immediately clapped back. 

"We look at USK as our rival," Shermet said. "Last season was very contentious, and they took three out of four. 

"We were very focused. The game on Friday was as complete a game as I've ever seen. But I know (USK) is good. They come out and they were firing in that first game today, and we knew they weren't going to stop."

The Firebirds scored four in the top of the seventh to take a 9-6 lead. 

Castanchoa doubled home Uly Duran in the home half, then, in the eighth, Nolan Wasson tied it with a clutch, two-out single that scored both Duran and Eddie Rivero. 

After Wasson came up big again in the 10th with a double, Castanchoa cued up his two-out heroics. 

It was a tight play at the plate, but Wasson made a heady slide around the tag and the dugout erupted, sprinting into shallow right-center to mob Castanchoa. 

"It feels amazing, man," Castanchoa said. "That's the best feeling in the world right there. Greatest thing ever in baseball."

Said Shermet: "Good teams hang around and find a way to win at the end, and that's what we did."

The Game 1 standouts were many.

Rivero went 2-for-6 with a pair scored.

Wasson ended up 3-for-5 with two batted in and two scored.

Evan Rocha went 1-for-5, tying the game in the fifth with a two-run triple.

Keith Hale finished 2-for-4 and was his usual unflappable self with the right field defense.

In fact, there were a number of diamond gems on display Sunday at the ballpark.

Catcher Robby Wheeler threw out a steal attempt by three feet.

Pitcher Keaton Slack sprinted off the hill to field a bunt pop-up in foul territory. 

Third baseman Wasson snagged a laser line-drive then rerouted it to first for a double-play in Game 1. In Game 2, he fielded a hot grounder, stepped on the bag and threw to first for his second double-play of the day.

Rivero and Zane Parmenter had a number of clutch roll-ups. 

Daniel Esqueda ended the second with a sliding catch that prevented a run from scoring. 

"Pitching and defense wins championships," Shermet said. 

Speaking of pitching, Slack got the start and went four and a third, allowing five earned on six hits, while striking out a pair. 

Kyle Douphner (2 Ks) went two, Ben Weller went two and two-thirds and Colby Weyant struck out the side in the 10th to pick up the win. 

Desi Garcia took the ball in Game 2 and went six and a third to win his seventh straight decision. 

Eddie Vokes shutdown USK with a pair of strikeouts to finish up the mercy-shortened affair. 

Up next, the Warriors head to Prescott, AZ for a series with Embry-Riddle. 

The Eagles are 5-6 in Cal Pac play and 9-18 overall. 

"They are a very complete team," Shermet said of Embry-Riddle. "Their record doesn't show it, but they play good, fundamental baseball. They can play small ball, they can hit the long ball, they came in here last year and swept us in our own park. 

"We respect everybody, we don't look past anyone — the records don't matter. The game is the game. They have a lot of returners back, they've got a really good pitching staff and we have to play to the best of our ability. If we let down, they are going to run right past us — they are a good running team too."

Currently, the Warriors (11-1 Cal Pac, 17-9 overall) hold the second-place position in the conference standings.

Ben U, ranked No. 24 in the NAIA, is in first place at 9-0. The Red Hawks have won 21 straight games.

Game 2 Standouts

Castanchoa (2 R, 2 RBI) went 4-four-4 with a pair of doubles.

Esqueda was 4-for-5 with three runs scored and one batted in. 

Duran was 2-for-5 with two scored and three batted in. 

Wasson (HR) finished 2-for-5 with two scored and three batted in. 

Hale went 2-for-2 with a walk, three runs scored and two batted in. 

Parmenter was 1-for-3 with two batted in, including one on a picture-perfect suicide squeeze. 

Ryan Naranjo (1-for-4) came up clutch as well, driving in a run in the fourth to make it 11-4.