Cougars glove win over Roaders in baseball

Catoctin starting pitcher Peyton Castellow throws in the seventh inning Wednesday against Brunswick at Brunswick High School.

BRUNSWICK – Bryont Green told himself he knew how Catoctin baseball's game was going to end right before the final pitch.

"I felt a ground ball coming to [second baseman Jake Bell]," Green said.

That would’ve set up a double play between Bell, the shortstop Green and first baseman Joey McMannis to close out the contest and foil Brunswick's comeback bid with the tying run at third base. Lucky for the Cougars, Green was a seer in the seventh.

Left-hander Peyton Castellow induced that grounder to Bell, who started a double play that clinched a 2-1 road victory over the rival Railroaders on Wednesday. Catoctin held on in a pitchers’ duel thanks to Castellow and the defense behind him, which had previously turned two in the second inning to keep Brunswick off the board.

"It sounds crazy to say you won a game with your gloves, but I think we did today," Cougars coach Mike Franklin said.

It's not a stretch to say that at all, as Catoctin (16-1) cruised into the seventh holding a 2-0 lead before the middle of the Roaders order strung together three singles around a sacrifice bunt to get one run back and threaten to tie the contest. Had that final double play not been successful, or that ground ball just a few inches over and in the hole, the game would have been even.

The same was true of that earlier twin killing, as Brunswick (5-9) had runners on the corners again and was looking to chip away. But Castellow beared down each time and trusted his infielders.

"Those aren't accidents. Peyton knows how to tilt the ball across the plate and make a batter hit the top half of the ball and induce a double play," Franklin said. "He's done it all year."

It's something Bell and Green are used to by now.

"You gotta anticipate a ground ball with a guy like that. He just gets outs," Bell said.

And they help deliver them.

The two sophomores anchor the Cougars’ middle infield, just like they did on travel teams growing up. They’re a steady force that routinely makes one clean play after another, usually celebrating their successes in the ensuing throw-around by Green flicking the ball to Bell and the latter barehanding it.

"We know each other, we have great chemistry and we just play well together," Green said.

That came in handy Wednesday, as Castellow was locked in a battle on the mound with Roaders right-hander Tyler Lowery.

Castellow went the distance, allowing just that one run and striking out five. Lowery, meanwhile, settled in after surrendering a pair of two-out RBI bloop singles to Catoctin's Garrett Worth and DJ Shipton in the first inning.

Brunswick coach Roger Dawson said he initially wanted Lowery to pitch two or three innings, but with the team trailing, he didn't want to burn ace Oliver Ellison. Fortunately for Dawson, Lowery buckled down and didn't allow a run the rest of the way, going six innings and striking out four.

"He just threw one heck of a game," Dawson said.

But so did Castellow, who pitched efficiently and never let the Roaders get comfortable until the final inning.

When they did, they got an RBI infield single from Nate Borawski but couldn't quite finish the job. Lowery also went 3-for-3 at the plate and was the tying run in the seventh.

"We’re a very young ball club, and we’re very close to where we need to be," Dawson said.

But that final double play ensured the Cougars sealed another victory, one of their closest of the season.

They rely on their defense to pick up the slack when their bats have an off day like they did Wednesday, and that bailed them out at the end. Even Green could see it coming.

"Right on that pitch, I felt a ground ball coming to [Bell], and it happened, and we just made the play and got the win," Green said.

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