High school softball: Kate Kastelic dazzles as Amherst stops Medina

AMHERST — Once Amherst's defense settled in, the Comets were untouchable. Kate Kastelic retired 18 straight batters and went six no-hit innings and the offense helped the Comets shake off a rocky start for a 7-2 win over Medina in non-conference play Saturday morning. The Comets then improved to 7-2 with a 9-1 win over Walsh Jesuit in the afternoon. The Bees also played the Warriors and lost 1-0, falling to 3-4. "I was just thinking about how my defense had my back the whole game," Kastelic said. "Our first inning it got a little wishy-washy, but I knew they were going to pick me up after no matter what. After that first inning, we had no errors and were really on top of the ball. I just wanted to pitch for my team and earn us that win." Amherst opened the day with three straight errors to give Medina a 1-0 lead with no outs and runners in scoring position. Kastelic responded by getting a strikeout, a popup and a liner to stop the bleeding. Kastelic pitched a flawless game, allowing no hits, no walks and no earned runs with four strikeouts. She faced the minimum in every inning after the first. Amherst coach Lacey Reichert said the senior hasn't allowed an earned run while collecting 31 strikeouts in the last four games. "She looks fantastic," Reichert said. "She's locating well, she's mixing her pitches well, staying at the knees or up at the chest and her off-speed looks good. "We were very shaky in the first, to say the least, but I thought Kate bailed us out. She did a good job getting hitters out and got a liner right back at her, which was a tough play. Medina put the ball in play and made our defense work, but luckily we were able to overcome that first inning." Amherst's offense wasted little time making up for the sloppy defense, capitalizing on two Medina errors with two outs to get the run back in the bottom of the first. The Comets broke the tie in the third when Eliza Marcano led off with the first of her three hits — each leading to runs — and Cassidy Kettleman crushed a pitch to deep center for a two-run home run. Kettleman finished 2-of-3, also getting hit by a pitch, with two runs and two RBIs. "I was just hoping to get the ball in play," Kettleman said. "Just get the runners moved so we can get more at-bats, string them together and get more runs scored. We all had confidence in each other. Yeah, it was a shaky start, but we knew we'd get right back on it." Amherst added a run in the fourth then three more in the sixth off reliever Kylie Hosey. Sierra Dorobek relieved Kastelic in the seventh and extended the streak to 19 straight batters retired with a strikeout. She then gave up back-to-back walks for Medina's first baserunners since the first. Peyton Pasadyn secured the Bees' only hit of the morning, a grounder past second. Dorobek settled in and retired the next two on fielder's choices, giving up a run in the process. "After a game like this I'm hoping that the girls can realize the need for a perfect game against good teams and be able to be all phases of the game and being able to compete in all atmospheres," Medina coach Jessica Toocheck said. "(Kastelic's) a great pitcher and moved the ball well. We put the ball in play, but we have to hit it a little more solid and take advantage of our opportunities." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeneyCT on Twitter. Amherst 7, Medina 2 Medina &emsp;&emsp;Amherst &emsp;&emsp; &emsp;&emsp;ab r h bi &emsp;&emsp;ab &emsp;&emsp;r &emsp;&emsp;h &emsp;&emsp;bi Amelia Cassidy &emsp;&emsp;3 1 0 0 Cassidy Kettleman 3 &emsp;&emsp;2 &emsp;&emsp;2 &emsp;&emsp;2 Lauren Sebring &emsp;&emsp;3 0 0 0 Lacie Stottlemire 4 &emsp;&emsp;1 &emsp;&emsp;2 &emsp;&emsp;1 Meadow Nardone&emsp;&emsp;3 0 0 0 Lindsey Reavis &emsp;&emsp;4 &emsp;&emsp;1 &emsp;&emsp;2 &emsp;&emsp;1 Dana Rabung &emsp;&emsp;3 0 0 0 McKenzie Cornwell 4 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;3 &emsp;&emsp;1 Brielle Buchko &emsp;&emsp;2 1 0 0 Kate Kastelic &emsp;&emsp;4 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;1 &emsp;&emsp;0 Trista Melcher &emsp;&emsp;2 0 0 0 Brianna Waldecki 4 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 Peyton Pasadyn &emsp;&emsp;3 0 1 0 Rachel Miller &emsp;&emsp;4 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 Sommer Ostendorf 3 0 0 1 Kylee McGraw &emsp;&emsp;3 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 Natalie McGraw &emsp;&emsp;3 0 0 0 Eliza Marcano &emsp;&emsp;2 &emsp;&emsp;2 &emsp;&emsp;2 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;Jordan Hawkins 0 &emsp;&emsp;1 &emsp;&emsp;0 &emsp;&emsp;0 TOTALS &emsp;&emsp;25 2 1 1 TOTALS &emsp;&emsp;32 &emsp;&emsp;7 &emsp;&emsp;12 &emsp;&emsp;5 Medina &emsp;&emsp;100 000 1 — 2 1 &emsp;&emsp;4 Amherst &emsp;&emsp;102 103 X — 7 12 &emsp;&emsp;3 &emsp;&emsp; 2B — Cornwell. HR — Kettleman. SB — Stottlemire, Cornwell. LOB — Medina 4, Amherst 9. &emsp;&emsp;IP R ER H BB SO Medina Sebring (L) &emsp;&emsp;5 4 3 9 0 1 Kylie Hosey &emsp;&emsp;1 3 2 3 1 1 Amherst Kastelic (W) &emsp;&emsp;6 1 0 0 0 4 Sierra Dorobek &emsp;&emsp;1 1 1 1 2 1 HBP — Kettleman (by Hosey).