Ben Castelli was mired in a slump. 

California Baptist’s opening day leadoff hitter wasn’t setting the table or accomplishing much of anything offensively for the Lancers. The junior college transfer from Saddleback College had just five hits through California Baptist’s first 13 games. He had one double and two RBIs in his first 37 Division I plate appearances. To make things worse, the Lancers were in the midst of an eight-game losing streak, including six losses by three runs or fewer.

CBU head coach Gary Adcock brought Castelli in to be a run producer and a run scorer in the top half of the lineup, like he had been at Saddleback where he hit .333, 3, 31 with 55 runs scored in 51 games and was named MVP of the California Community College Athletic Association state tournament won by the Bobcats. He showed he was capable hitting .380 with four home runs in the fall.

But through the opening three weeks of the season, Castelli was hitting .167 while former Saddleback teammate Makani Tanaka was hitting over .400 for Oral Roberts and another former Bobcat, J.C. Allen, was hitting .320 at UC San Diego.

Adcock went to Castelli and challenged him with a simple message: “Don’t forget who you are.”

“I pulled up to Ben and said, ‘Hey look at Makani, look at J.C. Allen.’ Your numbers were every bit [as good] or better than these guys at times last year,” Adcock said. “You’re a capable hitter. You’ve proven that. You played at one of the best junior colleges in California. I’m not taking you out of the lineup. I still believe in you, so you need to believe in yourself. 

“He was challenged before that Air Force game specifically to remember who he was and not give up his belief in what he was doing.”

Castelli came up with two on and two outs in his first at-bat that night against Air Force. He fell behind in the count 0-2 before getting a slider up in the zone. He drove it into the left-center field gap for a two-run double. He’s been off and running ever since. The next pitch he saw, two innings later, he hammered into the right-center field gap for another double. He also got hit by a pitch and drove in three runs for the game. The next day, he crushed a fastball deep into the netting beyond the right field fence for his first Division I home run in his first plate appearance. He again reached base three times, this time scoring three runs. 

Castelli has carried that success forward with him. Since being challenged, he’s gone 12 for 23 (.521) and reached base another eight times (5 BB, 3 HBP) on free passes. He’s scored 13 runs and driven in 12.

At Rutgers Sunday, Castelli pushed the Lancers to a 4-1 win in the rubber match to take a series against a Big Ten school more than 2,700 miles away from home. He doubled to left-center field and scored the game’s opening run in the second inning. Then in the seventh inning after Nick Dumesnil had doubled California Baptist’s advantage, Castelli padded the cushion lining a two-run double into the left-field corner. He finished the game with three hits, a walk and a stolen base.

He was even better Tuesday when he delivered a career performance, falling a grand slam shy of the home run cycle, blasting three bombs and driving in six runs as the Lancers routed San Diego State. Castelli is now hitting .321/.471/.642 with four homers and 14 RBIs while scoring a team-best 20 runs.

Lancer Launch

While getting Castelli going has been key, he wasn’t the only Lancer struggling heading into the series against Air Force. The Lancers were playing hard, but with a lineup featuring seven new position player starters and a whole new weekend rotation, guys seemed to be pressing, trying to prove themselves — either that they belonged at the Division I level or that they belonged to be everyday starters. There were big shoes to fill after California Baptist lost WAC Defensive Player of the Year Josh Paino to Clemson and two freshman All-Americans to Texas Tech (Lukas Pirko) and Auburn (Ryan Hetzler) along with the departures of five senior everyday starters.

To snap the losing streak and turn it into a win streak, Adcock went into his coaching motivational toolbox. He didn’t just challenge Castelli. He implored his entire roster to do more, to start playing to its potential. In the process, he followed the instructions of one of his mentors, former Riverside Community College coach Dennis Rogers.

“The resolve was good, and when you have the right guy on the mound, like Cody New, it was the good time for a powerful speech,” Adcock said. “Coach Rogers used to always tell me, ‘Don’t give the rip-roaring speech until you got your ace on the mound.’ So I gave the rip-roaring speech and the ace did ace things, and now we’re playing a lot better.”

Adcock credits the turnaround to his players being able to hone in on short, tiny goals and focus on those rather than the larger picture.

“I’ve been here 22 years. Analytics have changed, and launch angle and exit velocity and induced vertical break and all that, but the standard game is still the standard game,” Adcock said. “We’ve got some standard things that we’ve always tried to do here. 

“Can you get the lead off guy out if you’re pitching? Can you get him on if you’re on offense? Can you get out of the inning in 15 pitches or less? Or can you drive up pitch count? Can you turn a double play when you need to? Can you make a defensive play that changes a game? Can you exhibit extraordinary mound presence even through tough times? And can you get to the next pitch?”

Several of those were on display in the rubber match victory at Rutgers. Starting pitcher Ryan Kittredge pitched into the eighth inning on an efficient 100 pitches, allowing just three hits and one walk in 7.2 innings, earning WAC Pitcher of the Week honors. On the other hand, California Baptist hitters worked eight walks while seeing 162 pitches in the game. And when things got hairy in the ninth inning as Rutgers loaded the bases with no outs, righthander Julian Orozco showed the unflappable mound presence required at the end of games. He came on to lock things down, getting a huge 5-4-3 around-the-horn double play and the final out to sap all the bite out of the Scarlet Knights’ offensive attack. 

Winners of seven of their last eight, the Lancers (11-10) open WAC play this weekend hosting Utah Tech (13-11) at Totman Stadium. It will be the last time the Lancers host the Trailblazers for a WAC series as California Baptist delivered big news Wednesday, announcing the school would be heading to the Big West Conference starting the 2026-2027 school year.

Rivalry Ready

While some conferences are about to open league play, others have already seen multiple critical series take place. In the complete opposite corner of the country from the WAC, the Northeast Conference has already seen its preseason favorite face off against its likely top two competitors this season. That has ratcheted up the early-season action to another level…and that even took another step up this weekend when rivals Long Island and Wagner faced off. 

“Wagner-LIU, even back when I played [at LIU], this is probably one of the oldest rivalries in the NEC. Wagner is always good. LIU, recent years always been good, so yeah that’s expected,” Long Island head coach Dan Pirillo said. “It’s expected to come down to the last pitch, the last inning. It’s definitely a weekend you circle on the calendar.”

“We’ve been rivals for years, and we’ve been battling at the top of the conference with Central [Connecticut State] the last three years or so,” Wagner head coach Craig Noto said. “So it means something to the guys on both sides. You got some area guys on both rosters and there’s a little bit of hometown battle to it. Normally, we don’t play them this early in the schedule. The last couple years it seems like we’ve been matchup up with them in May, so to have it a little bit earlier on the schedule heated it up.”

After splitting the first two games, the rubber match took on major importance in the standings despite the early calendar date. Wagner had swept its opening weekend of NEC play against Norfolk State while defending champion and preseason leader Long Island had dropped its opening series at home against Central Connecticut State.

LIU took the lead with a run in the fourth inning, but the Sharks were in danger of falling to 2-4 against their biggest competition for the conference crown after Joseph Mennella demolished a two-run homer through the mist sitting atop SIUH Community Park in the fifth inning. Both starting pitchers had been making big pitches and runs seemed they would be hard to come by, so a 2-1 deficit halfway through could have caused Long Island to tighten up. 

Instead, on the very next play, Cord Dobrinski stole the momentum back for the Sharks. Mateo Matthews drove a ball to center field which Dobrinski tracked to the wall. He timed his jump and leapt up with his back along the fence, trying to snatch away a run. Dobrinski’s glove impeded the ball from sailing over the fence. The ball hit his glove and popped into the air. As Dobrinski came back down to Earth, he eyed the ball floating through the air and made a lunging snag to catch the ball before it landed on the warning track, notching the inning-ending out.

“Momentum is big in baseball, and that stole it right back,” Pirillo said. “Defense can definitely do that, taking away that home run right after they hit one. That was a great play. He’s bounced around the outfield for us, but he’s fun to watch in center. He can really get it.”

Long Island was able to carry that momentum forward with the help of some mistakes in the next half inning. The Sharks opened the frame with a pair of singles. Mason Breton laid down a sacrifice that was thrown up the right field line after the second baseman failed to properly stretch out for the ball. Dobrinski followed with a single to left field to plate the go-ahead run. Benjamin Fierenzi soon added a two-run double that landed just out of the reach of a diving Bryce Phelps and just inside the right field line. The Sharks had taken control, 6-2. They added runs from a two-run Jack Power eighth-inning home run and an icing-topper solo shot by Dobrinski in the ninth. Dobrinski’s do-it-all night elicited a huge reaction from the Sharks’ dugout as he rounded the bases and stepped on home.

Dobrinski hit 16 homers in 38 games last year for Fort Scott Community College, so the Sharks were expecting him to come in and be a power threat right away. That hadn’t yet matieralized, but Pirillo is hopeful this was the jumpstart he needed.

“He’s been struggling offensively, and he’s a better hitter than what his numbers show,” Pirillo said. “I think he’s starting to bloom and emerge to what he’s supposed to be doing. And I think getting that off the schneid, where he gets the first home run of the year [is why they had such a big reaction].”

There had been chirping from both dugouts throughout the weekend, which only continued with Long Island’s reaction in the final inning of a 9-3 victory for the Sharks. Noto decided his team would not shake hands to avoid any potential confrontation, which Pirillo had no issues with.

“Nowadays, coaches can read the room, and that’s fine,” Pirillo said. “I think it’s better sometimes to just go separate ways, and we’ll see them later on.”

Don’t be surprised if these two teams end up facing off in the NEC Tournament with the league’s automatic bid hanging in the balance.

Pitching with Fire

Speaking of the chirping, when Dobrinski robbed Matthews of the fifth inning home run, words were exchanged with Long Island pitcher Justin DeCastro coming off the field. DeCastro, who had been calm, cool and collected as he went about his carvery business having allowed just an infield single through the first 14 outs leading up to Mennella’s home run, was heated and had to be calmed down by a teammate.

That fire turned into fuel.

DeCastro got stronger as the game progressed. He retired the side in order in the sixth. In the seventh, he gave up a leadoff double but stranded the runner without letting him even advance to third. With the Sharks holding an 8-2 lead in the eighth inning, DeCastro ran into some two-out trouble as a double put two runners in scoring position and an infield single plated a run. With his pitch count approaching 100 pitches and arms loose in the bullpen, DeCastro’s night seemed likely to be over, but Pirillo stuck with him.

“He was probably gonna fight me if I tried to take him out. So I wasn’t really ready for that,” Pirillo joked. “But we try to trust our pitchers late in games, our starting pitchers, and build them up for later on the year. He was so effective with his fastball, and he really didn’t lose much. He maintains throughout the course of the game.”

DeCastro got one of Wagner’s top hitters, Diego Tavarez, to ground out to end the threat on his 105th pitch. And in the ninth he came back out and retired the side on only seven pitches for his first career nine-inning complete game.

“We wanted him to finish that game. If he could, he was going to get probably three batters, and he took care of business. He wanted that. He really did,” Pirillo said. “I think it’s important when a pitcher has a chance to throw a nine-inning CG. It gets you to the point where you’ve never been before. That ninth inning, what is that like? It’s really hard to simulate that for a guy like him when he’s at 105 against another team. 

“So to be able to experience that in a conference game where it’s a tough rivalry with Wagner-LIU and everything’s on the line, weekend series on the line, to have him be able to just not be scared the moment. He’s a tough kid. I knew he wouldn’t be scared, but once you’re in that moment, you’re there to experience it.”

DeCastro doesn’t have electric stuff. He sits 82-86 with his fastball that he pairs with a 77-79 changeup and a slider at a similar velocity, but he attacks without fear, working both sides of the plate with all three offerings. He was relentless in pursuing the zone against Wagner, allowing just one walk while tying his career high with seven strikeouts.

“He wanted the ball today. He knew what he was going to do. He knew he was going to go nine,” Pirillo said. “It was fun to watch him compete today. First-pitch strikes and then he wasn’t trying to nibble. He was going right after them. Watching them early in the series, they were getting their swings off, and he used it to his advantage and found ways to change speeds to get them off balance.”

In the NEC, dependable Sunday starters are a luxury. DeCastro gives Long Island a chance to win every rubber match because his mode of attack allows him to get deeper into games than most of the arms he’ll face off against in conference play. He’s gone at least six innings each of the last three weeks and the three runs he allowed against Wagner are the most he’s given up in the stretch.

For example, Wagner starter Colin Trizuto pitched a strong five innings in the series finale, allowing just an unearned run on three hits, but with four walks he pitched a lot of stressful pitches with runners on base and threw 107 pitches, necessitating his departure after five frames. Once Long Island got into the Seahawks’ bullpen, they were able to do damage, striking for the five-run sixth that was the difference maker in taking the series.

“Justin is a competitor, man. He pounds the zone,” Pirillo said. “He gives us a chance. To have him on Sunday, after two tough games, and knowing that he’s gonna come in and just pound the zone with a couple pitches, he pitches with a chip on his shoulder. He was overlooked in high school, coming to us as a walk-on. I can’t speak enough of how much of a competitor he is.”

More Mennella

Mennella’s home run against Long Island was his third in a six-game stretch after the Hofstra transfer struggled early in the season. Similar to Castelli of California Baptist, there were big expectations coming into the season for Menella, and he got off to a slow start, possibly pressing and trying to do too much.

But as conference play has opened up, Mennella’s bat has started to warm up. He has hit safely in seven of eight games and driven in runs in six of the eight. He is hitting .323, 3, 10 during the stretch, having scored nine of his 12 runs and drawn eight of his 12 walks. In the team’s first 11 games, Mennella had only five knocks, hitting .172 with no home runs and only one run driven in.

“There isn’t a ballpark in America that could hold that kid,” Noto said. “He could really swing back, but he got off to a slow start.” 

Similarly, catcher Xavier Ulrich, who hit .320 last season, has managed just a .190 average. Matthews was expected to be a big contributor but is hitting .244, 1, 8. Noto believes getting more consistency out of that duo and Mennella, to go along with Bryce Phelps (.450/.560/.517) and Lukas Torres (.328, 1, 9) setting the table is the key to unlocking an offense that is very dependent on stringing together several hits to put runs on the board.

“We’re gonna be fine in conference. I think we’re gonna compete.”

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