- Elgin defeated Berne Union 5-2 Thursday night at Lancaster's Beavers Field.
- The Comets will now play second-seeded Fairfield Christian Academy Monday at 5 p.m., also at Beavers Field in a district semifinal game.
- Elgin got a couple of timely hits, while the Rockets struggled to string hits together.
LANCASTER — Elgin proved it belongs among the Central District's four best Division IV baseball teams.
Seeded fifth in the tournament, the Comets knocked off No. 3 Berne Union 5-2 on Thursday night at Lancaster's Beavers Field. They will now play second-seeded Fairfield Christian Academy at 5 p.m. Monday at Beavers Field in a district semifinal game. FCA topped No. 10 Shekinah Christian 2-0 in the second game at the legendary Lancaster facility on Thursday.
"I told them if we can get to the district, anything can happen," Elgin coach Andy Steck said. "We got here and we’ll see what happens."
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Key to the game
Timely hits proved to be the difference Thursday night. Elgin (15-8) got a couple while the Rockets (13-9) struggled to string hits together.
"Throughout the year, we’ve been struggling to drive in those runs at that time," Steck said. "It was a sigh of relief. We came through at the Delaware Christian game (an 8-2 sectional semifinal win) on top of coming through today. I’m hoping that’s a sign for a change."
In the top of the second inning, a hit batsman and two singles led to Trey Morgan clearing the bases for a 3-0 lead. An infield error led to the fourth run of the inning for Elgin, and that proved to be more than enough runs.
"I think we fed off energy. That’s definitely a factor on this team," Elgin senior Stephen Castillo-Carey said. "Energy is everything."
Tough pitching
On the mound, Castillo-Carey did his part to make sure the lead stayed.
"We knew coming in today that this was a tough team known for their comebacks, so I had to keep going," Castillo-Carey said of a team that made a wild late innings comeback over Northmor in last year's D-IV district championship game. "(The big lead) put way more comfort on my shoulders. It was a lot more comforting going back on the mound and just keep grinding."
He scattered 10 hits and allowed two earned runs, walking four, hitting two batters and striking out two.
Berne Union scored one run in the fourth with two outs, but the Rockets stranded two runners in the inning. In the sixth, Brody Wood tripled in a run to push the Elgin lead back to four runs at 5-1.
In the seventh, the Rockets started to get to Castillo-Carey as they scored a run and loaded the bases with two outs. Steck went to Wood in relief, who threw a strikeout to end the game with a save.
"Steve was a warrior. He dug deep and gave us the start that we needed," Steck said. "The outfield played great. The infield defense played phenomenal."
At the plate, Nash Lust led the Comets with three singles, while Wood had the triple plus a single, and Donaven Stith Castillo-Carey, Mitchell Askew and Morgan all hit one single.
It added up to a sectional championship effort.
"It means a lot," Castillo-Carey said. "We’re a good baseball team, and we’ve known that. We’ll keep going. We knew we wanted that (game) next week."
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