Castaneda's Arm, Timely Hitting Lead to Opening Victory

The East Meadow Boys Baseball team was able to get the big hits when it needed them most, and the Jets cruised to a 10-3 win in the first round playoff match-up against Mepham at Monday.

The big story for East Meadow revolved around the pitching of Matt Castaneda, who hurled a complete game five-hitter. He also reached base three times in the game, including a big RBI single in the third inning.

“I just felt good out there today,” Castaneda said. “My pitches were working, and I was able to keep the game moving.”

Robbie Healy set the table in the first inning with a lead-off double, and he would eventually score on a Mepham error. Kyle Aberasturi added a two-run single later in the frame to give the Jets a 3-0 lead.

“We were able to take advantage of their mistakes early,” East Meadow Coach Ken Sicoli said. “It’s important to get off to a fast start.”

East Meadow’s three-run lead would be short lived, as some mistakes defensively allowed Mepham to cut the lead to 3-2 in the third. After Castaneda’s RBI single in the bottom half gave the Jets a 4-2 lead, Shane Agostino drove in another run for Mepham to trip the lead to 4-3.

It was off to the races for East Meadow after that.

East Meadow added six runs between the home fourth and fifth frames, which included RBI knocks by Rich Renkl and Ben Wright.

“It was a big inning for us,” Renkl said. “We believe we’re a good team, and we can sneak by teams like Massapequa and others.”

After East Meadow increased its lead, Castaneda cruised, as he retired the last eight batters to face him.

“He started out slow, because his curve ball, which has been his strikeout pitch, was kind of flat,” Sicoli said of Castaneda. “I was impressed with how he worked later in the game.”

For Mepham, it took five pitchers to get through East Meadow, and Coach Bill Murphy said that his players will learn something from losing a game like this.

“We need to get better, and we have a good core,” Murphy said. “We just need to correct a few things, and we’ll be just fine.”

The Jets’ next opponent has not been determined, and they will play a best of three series on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (weather permitting).

What do you think of the season East Meadow has had? Tell us in the comments.