(Photo gallery by Teran Malone)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. —Offense came early and often in Ripley’s return to the state baseball tournament with at least one run in each of the first three innings and another two in the fifth for a 10-0, run-rule win over Winfield that pushes the Vikings into the Class AAA state finals on Saturday.
“That’s about as good as you can get right there,” Ripley head coach Shane Casto said, “especially in a state semifinals game against a great program in Winfield and you couldn’t ask for much more out of some guys.
After starter Bryson Casto worked around a two-out single in the first, Ripley leapt out to a flying start in its half of the opening frame. Casto and Jackson Curry each reached to against Winfield starter Blake Withrow and advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch.
That set up Landon Meadows to capitalize and he deposited an opposite field single into right that sent both runners around third and across the plate.
Back to back singles from Brady McVay and Peyton Keller loaded the bases for Parker Keller and his fly ball to right was enough to bring Meadows home from third on a sacrifice fly as even Winfield’s first out of the game produced a run for the Vikings.
Another productive out came moments later first when a dropped third strike to Kyler Doss forced a throw to first base and McVay broke for the plate, diving under the tag of Brayson Downey for the game’s fourth run.
“They play with a lot of confidence and a lot of energy and in a game like this, we just tried to treat it as another regular season-type game and that’s how they came out and got the job done,” Casto said.
Winfield went to the bullpen in the second but Ripley’s offense could not be quelled by any of the three relievers it faced. Curry opened the inning with a walk and stolen base before Meadows slugged a double to the left field wall for his third RBI of the day.
McVay and Peyton Keller followed with back to back singles to push a sixth run across and the seventh came on a ground ball from Parker Keller later in the inning
Meadows picked up his fourth RBI of the day with a well-struck ball in the third, making it an 8-0 game but Winfield center fielder Ean Cox limited the damage with a strong throw to second that ended the inning and kept Meadows from his second double of the day.
With Ripley held off the board for the first time in the fourth, Casto continued to keep the Generals off balance, pitching with the confidence and strike-throwing acumen of a veteran with an eight-run advantage.
The right-hander collected two of his seven strikeouts in the fifth and recorded the win while allowing just three hits and a walk over five scoreless innings.
“He’s done that for us all year and he just had a good feel for all three pitches and pounded the strike zone, moved it in and out” Shane Casto said, “When you get a lead like that, it makes the nerves settle down a little bit and the confidence level go a little bit higher.
In the Ripley half of the frame, Meadows delivered his fourth run-scoring hit of the day to drive home Casto with two outs and just a few pitches later, McVay lined a ball into right field that sent Curry to the plate with the tenth and final run of the game.
Meadows finished the day a perfect 4-4 at the plate and drove in half of his team’s runs with a five-RBI performance.
“That’s a testament to the guys in front of him getting on base and then him doing his job and coming through and I couldn’t be happier for him,” Casto said.
Withrow absorbed the loss for Winfield which finishes its season at 23-8 overall. Ripley improves to 26-3 and will have the opportunity to secure its first state championship since 2004 on Saturday.
“Seven more innings to play, one more game. That’s no different than the other 29 that we’ve played. There just happens to be a big trophy at the end,” Casto said.