YAKIMA – Damon Casetta-Stubbs will likely have many more baseball memories in the future.
But when he remembers his final start on the mound for King’s Way Christian, he’ll recall it went just as he dreamed.
Casetta-Stubbs threw a complete game as King’s Way beat Cashmere 4-0 in the Class 1A state semifinals Friday at Yakima County Stadium. The senior struck out 12, walked just one and allowed four hits.
A right-hander whose fastball has hit 96 miles per hour this season, Casetta-Stubbs has a bright baseball future. The Seattle University commit has attracted plenty of interest from major league scouts ahead of this June’s amateur draft.
But before all that, Casetta-Stubbs is focused on helping King’s Way defend its state title. The Knights (19-6) will get that chance against Freeman in the championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday in Yakima.
“To step on the mound for the last time in my high school career is pretty cool,” Casetta-Stubbs said. “It’s awesome. It’s what I’ve been dreaming about all week.”
Casetta-Stubbs hasn’t allowed a run in three postseason starts. He ran his scoreless streak to 20 innings Friday as King’s Way beat Cashmere (21-5) in the semifinals for the second straight year.
With Gonzaga-bound Tyler Chipman pitching for Cashmere, run-scoring chances figured to be rare.
When the Knights had their chance in the fourth inning, they didn’t let it pass. King’s Way scored all four of their runs, sending nine batters to the plate.
Riley Buehler led off with a double, then scored on Sam Lauderdale’s single. Riley Danberg followed with an RBI double, then scored on a throwing error after Blake Scully laid down a sacrifice bunt. Cole Scherertz added a two-out RBI single.
“We got some guys on and we had to start swinging,” Danberg said. “We just had to go out there, swing our bats, play our game and do what we do.”
That was more than enough run support for Casetta-Stubbs. The only inning Cashmere had more than one baserunner was the second. But Casetta-Stubbs worked around a leadoff walk and a one-out single, stranding both those runners.
Cashmere wouldn’t get a runner past second base the rest of the game.
“Nothing beats the close games where you battle,” Casetta-Stubbs said.
Saturday, King’s Way will send another hard-throwing pitcher to the mound in Lauderdale, a Washington State-bound lefty. As reigning champs, the Knights say they have been looking forward to taking everyone’s best shot.
“It’s pretty crazy to think about,” Danberg said. “It’s pretty hard to get there the first year. Then coming back, not a lot of people want to put in the effort and work. I feel like we’ve done that this year. We’ll be ready for tomorrow.”
KING’S WAY CHRISTIAN 4, CASHMERE 0
King’s Way 000 400 0 – 4 7 0
Cashmere 000 000 0 — 0 4 1
Cashmere
Pitching – Tyler Chipman 7 IP, 6 K, 3 BB. Offensive highlights – Tyler Chipman 1-3; Daniel Wright 2-3; Kyler Keogh 1-2.
King’s Way Christian
Pitching – Damon Casetta-Stubbs 7 IP, 12 K, 1 BB. Offensive highlights – Riley Buehler 1-2, R, 2B; Sam Lauderdale 1-4, R, RBI; Riley Danberg 2-4, R, RBI, 2B; Hunter Aarhus 1-3, RBI; Cole Sherertz 1-3, RBI.
