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18 K's In 6 Innings? Phenomenal!

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By JOEY JOHNSTON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 25, 2008

Two days later, Newsome High School baseball coach Zach Walker was still amazed by the six-inning, 18-strikeout performance by Kris Castellanos, the Wolves' senior left-hander.

"It was like watching a video game," Walker said. "It was phenomenal. All my years in the game, and I've never seen anything like that."

Castellanos, a prime prospect for the major-league draft who already has signed with Florida State University, said Friday night's 9-2 victory against King was the best performance of his baseball life.

His 18 strikeouts fell one short of the Hillsborough County regulation-game record (19 by Armwood's Mike Pete against Bloomingdale in 2000). Castellanos, who allowed just one walk, took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but it was ruined on a one-out double by Josecial Veras. Castellanos, who had thrown 96 pitches, was removed after the sixth inning by Walker.

Had the no-hitter been ongoing, Walker said, Castellanos would have pitched the seventh inning.

"Everything was clicking, no question about that," said Castellanos, a 6-foot-3, 185-pounder. "I wasn't really going too deep into many counts. Everything was just on. As far as getting 18 strikeouts, I almost can't believe it. I never thought something like that would happen."

Neither did King coach Jim Macaluso.

"We had a lot of respect for the Castellanos kid, but we had heard he might be struggling with his control," Macaluso said. "In fact, we told our kids that before the game, reminding them to be patient.

"Well, about the second inning, when we saw what kind of stuff Castellanos had, I just said, 'Hey, forget about patience. We better start swinging the bats. He's mowing us down.'"

With one out in the second inning, King's Ian Patterson tried to reach base on a bunt, but he was tagged out. Other than that, for Castellanos, every out was a strikeout in his six innings of work.

In fact, he had four strikeouts in the fourth inning. King's Kory Sullivan swung and missed on strike three, but the ball was mishandled, then Sullivan reached on a throwing error. Castellanos also struck out the inning's other three batters.

"Kris just kept his composure and went after the next batter," Walker said. "He has been doing a great job of that - staying within himself. Sometimes, it's easy to forget he's a relatively young pitcher who hasn't had that many starts.

"I mean, 18 strikeouts in six innings? Do the math. You can't do better than that. Kris is just going to keep getting better and better."

Castellanos' next scheduled start is Friday night at home against Wharton.

Reporter Joey Johnston can be reached at (813) 259-7353 or jjohnston@tampatrib.com.

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