Whitman junior Alex Cladouhos pitched five shutout innings in the Vikings’ 10-0 win over Paint Branch.
BETHESDA, Md. — The Walt Whitman High School baseball team got a shutout pitching performance from Alex Cladouhos and used a six-run fifth inning to put an early end to their matchup with visiting Paint Branch on Saturday, beating the Panthers 10-0.
Paint Branch starting pitcher Eric Lowe matched Caldouhos through the first two innings, but he issued three walks and hit a batter in a three-run third-inning meltdown that gave the Vikings control of the game. Whitman added a single run off Lowe in the fourth before closing out the mercy-rule win with a six-run outburst against Drew Jacobs in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Cladouhos allowed four hits and two walks with no strikeouts in five innings to get the win. Andrew Castagnetti had two hits, a run scored and three RBI for the Vikings, while catcher Nick Bode was 2-for-2 with two doubles, two RBI and a walk.
The Panthers had runners on second and third with one out in the top of the fourth inning for their best scoring chance of the game, but Caldouhos got Lowe on a foul pop to third base and J.C. Corkran on a fly ball to right field to escape the inning with his shutout intact.
The Vikings got their three third-inning runs without the benefit of a sharply-hit ball and in spite of running into two outs on the base paths. Lowe walked Bode to open the inning but picked off courtesy runner Alex Clark with Max Steinhorn at the plate. After Steinhorn walked and Ben Castagnetti was hit by 3-0 pitch, Drew Aherne was ruled safe at first on a very close play for an infield single to load the bases. Consecutive bloop singles to right field by Andrew Castagnetti and Max Vogel made it 3-0, but Ben Castagnetti was tagged out at second base after rounding the base too far on Vogel’s hit. Lowe then walked Michael Yang before retiring Dan Duffy on a weak grounder to first base to end the inning.
Dylan Hayes led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a bunt single and scored on Bode’s double deep into the gap in left field to make it 4-0. That was it for Lowe, who in three-plus innings gave up seven hits and four runs while walking three and striking out one.
Reliever Drew Jacobs got out of the fourth inning without further incident but was not so fortunate in the fifth. After retiring Vogel on a deep fly ball to right to open the inning, the high-powered Whitman offense proved more than Jacobs could handle. An RBI single by Duffy made it 5-0, and the first baseman scored from third two batters later on a throwing error by Paint Branch catcher Sam Stewart to push the lead to six. RBI doubles by Bode and Aherne made it 8-0, and Andrew Castagnetti’s single past third baseman Gaston Cooper with two outs plated two more runs and ended the game.
The win was the fifth in a row for the Vikings (12-2), who have scored ten or more runs in eight of their 14 games so far this season. They will host the defending Class 4A state champion Northwest Jaguars on Tuesday.
Paint Branch (8-5) will also play their next game on Tuesday, as they will travel to play Richard Montgomery.
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| Paint Branch | 0 0 0 | 0 0 | — | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Whitman | 0 0 3 | 1 5 | — | 10 | 14 | 1 |
Two outs in bottom of the fifth inning when game called.
2B: Whitman – Bode 2, Aherne, Vogel, Yang.
RBI: Whitman – A. Castagnetti 3, Vogel 2, Bode 2, Duffy, Aherne.
Runs: Whitman – Steinhorn 2, B. Castagnetti 2, Hayes 2, Aherne, A. Castagnetti, Yang, Duffy.
Pitching: Whitman – Cladouhos 
5 ip, 4 h, 0 r, 0 er, 2 bb, 0 k, 60 pitches.
Paint Branch – Lowe (L) 3+ ip, 7 h, 4 r, 4 er, 3 bb, 1 k, 71 pitches.
Jacobs 1 2/3 ip, 7 h, 6 r, 5 er, 1 bb, 0 k, 42 pitches.
MoCoMDHSSports 