Castillo brilliant in opening Classical win

LYNN – The Classical baseball team was the last in the Northeastern Conference to take the field when it began its season on Monday.After sitting and watching their contemporaries for over a week, you couldn’t blame the Rams if they were a little antsy. Well, Luis Castillo put those nerves to rest.Castillo was simply dominant on Monday at Fraser Field, striking out nine and allowing only a fourth-inning single to Revere’s Chris Mastropietro in a 2-0 win over the Patriots.”Luis kept his numbers down in terms of pitches and threw strong,” Classical coach Mike Zukowski said. “He kept their kids off-balance. It really was a very solid performance.”Castillo was very efficient in his 80-pitch outing. He struck out six over the first three innings and was able to work out of mini-jams in each of the final four innings, where Revere put runners in scoring position each time.”Our defense played solid,” Zukowski said. “Revere came out and held their own. After the first inning, it was a battle.”For the Patriots, who fell to 0-3, it was a case of not being able to get a big hit at the right time. The lack of offense wasted a superb performance on the mound from Matt Robichaud, who scattered five hits with six strikeouts in six innings.”We just can’t buy a hit,” Revere coach Joe Ranno said. “(Matt) pitched a great game and you couldn’t ask for anything more. But their kid also pitched great.”The Rams got all the offense they needed in the bottom of the first inning.Leadoff batter Brian Kolodziej reached on an infield single and moved up 90 feet when George Winer’s throw was wide of the mark to first.Robichaud got the next batter before Kolodziej moved to third on a groundout. But a wild pitch with Tyler Gauthier at the dish brought Kolodziej home with the game’s first run.Gauthier then walked and headed to third on a Castillo single to right. Zukowski then literally stole a run as Castillo got caught in a rundown at first, allowing Gauthier to make it 2-0 after one.”For the leadoff hitter to come around and score was huge. And then to score on the pull-up steal was great,” Zukowski said.Castillo then proceeded to begin mowing down the Revere lineup, working a perfect second and stranding two in the third.In the fourth, Chris Mastropietro got the Patriots’ first hit when he ripped a high fastball for a single to center. But that threat went by the boards when Castillo retired the next three batters to end the inning.In the bottom of the inning, Classical had a chance to break the game wide open. Singles from Wilson Mercado, Castillo and Ellido Reyes loaded the bases with one out, but Robichaud got Shawn Cushman swinging and Bobby Adams on a fielder’s choice to end the inning.Revere would knock on the door again in the seventh when Steve Merullo drew a one-out walk. But Castillo got Brian Robichaud and pinch-hitter Nick Dimare on grounders to Reyes at third to polish off the one-hit gem.