With the wind heavily blowing in and only a one run advantage for the Chaps in the bottom of the third, senior infielder Jack Casteel stepped in the box. “I was kind of just waiting for a fastball during that count, got a two-one count,” Casteel said. The lefty sent the fastball over the right field fence and into the Austin night sky to extend the Chaparrals lead to four.
“I got my pitch, went over the wall and felt pretty good,” Casteel said.
Casteel’s homer gave Westlake (17-2-1, 5-0 District 26-6A) the momentum it needed to close out the game and defeat Bowie (8-11, 6A Region IV District 26 2-3), 9-0, Tuesday night at Woerner Field. After a slow offensive start, the Chaps put on five runs in the last two innings to take the first match of the two game series.
Westlake got ahead early as sophomore pitcher Ethan Armbruster hit a shallow sacrifice fly to center field that drove in senior infielder Luke Nogalski.
That was all Armbruster needed to get the win as he went six innings, striking out nine while not giving up a run on four hits, continuing his dominance on the mound.
“He had pretty good stuff tonight, he was probably low 90s tonight,” Head coach J.T. Blair said. “He had a good slider, and he made some pitches when he had to.”
Armbruster retired the first nine Bowie batters in a row, with senior outfielder Evan Lung helping the sophomore pitcher get out of the second inning. Lung tracked down a line drive into the right field gap, making a running catch before noticing Bowie pinch runner Max Broderick hadn’t tagged up. Lung’s one-hopper to first base just beat the pinch runner to complete the double play, in a “big way” to end the inning, Casteel said.
Lung added another crucial play in the third inning, this time with his bat. With two outs gone, the senior blooped a hit into shallow center field, moving junior infielder Austin Knox to second base and reaching first base himself. Then, Casteel’s third home run of the season brought them all home and put Westlake up 4-0.
Casteel added another RBI soon after, this time scoring Lung on a ball through the gap that the second baseman dived for but couldn’t corral plating another Westlake run to put it up 6-0.
“Just get some guys on base, get some runners to second and third with less than two outs and somebody get a big hit,” Blair said of his squad’s mentality.
Lung added another RBI in the bottom of the sixth with a triple to the wall that brought junior infielder Austin Knox home, finishing off a three run inning and sending it to the top of the seventh with a 9-0 lead.
Junior pitcher Parker Saltsman came in to finish the Bulldogs off, sitting down three in a row to give the Chaparrals a 1-0 series lead and keeping Westlake undefeated in district play.
The Chaps will face Bowie for the away portion of the district series this Friday at Burger Center Diamond.
“[Have our] pitchers on point and keep their offense quiet,” Casteel said. “And then keep them bats hot and then hopefully get another win Friday night.”
