Brand, Casteel pace Bears romp

CLEVELAND, Tenn. — It’s a new brand of baseball they’re playing at Bradley Central these days.

The Bears switched gears Tuesday afternoon, handing the ball to sophomore pitcher Cole Brand. In his first major start at the high school level, Brand responded with a one-hitter in a 9-0 shutout of rival Cleveland Tuesday night.

“That’s why I get the big bucks — to make those kinds of decisions,” first-year coach Travis Adams joked.

Adams didn’t give Brand much time to contemplate the enormity of the decision. The 10th-grader had no idea until the Bears had finished their indoor hitting and headed outside to hit some more Tuesday afternoon.

“I didn’t find out until about 3 o’clock that I was going to pitch. I thought it was going to be Ryan (Casteel),” Brand said. “I was headed outside and Coach told me to grab some sleeves before I went out, that I was going to pitch.”

Both Brand and Casteel came up big in the Bears’ second win over the Blue Raiders, a victory that gave them a 2-0 record in what should be a very competitive District 5-AAA race.

Brand took a no-hitter into the fourth inning and surrendered only a squibbing bouncer just to his left that basically died in no-man’s land. He struck out 10 and walked two, allowing just five baserunners, two on errors. He also doubled and singled.

“We looked at a lot of possible pitchers on our trip to Florida (last week), and Cole was the most consistent,” Adams said. “We had decided earlier to give him the start, but we didn’t tell him until this afternoon. I didn’t want to give him time to think about it.”

Coaches from Tennessee, Austin Peay and Lee University were on hand Monday to take a look at Casteel, a junior who can catch, play outfield and pitch. They should have waited a day, although he put one off the wall as part of a 2-for-3 night in Bradley’s Monday win over the Blue Raiders.

Casteel, who made an unofficial visit to Auburn three weeks ago, doubled early to right and then quickly took Bradley from a 1-0 lead to a 5-0 advantage with a third-inning grand slam.

“They’re all looking at him as a hitter No. 1,” Adams said. “I think UT’s on hit pretty hot and heavy.”

Casteel thought his first-inning double, a high blast to right, was going out and he broke into a trot just a little too early. It died just shy of the 345-foot sign but too far for Cleveland right fielder Cameron Brewster to catch up. Although the hit advanced Jon Clinard to third and led to the Bears’ first run, Casteel was almost as upset as Adams.

“I think the baseball gods got hold of me on that one. I thought it was gone,” Casteel said. “I guess the wind caught it. Coach told me I’d better never (do that) again.”

He made up for it on his next plate appearance, sending a Tyler Brown offering high and deep — well over the left-center-field fence with the bases loaded.

“I knew the bases were loaded and I knew he had to come to me,” Casteel said.

The grand slam gave Brand some breathing room, although he didn’t seem to need it.

“He’s never been in that position and he did a great job of keeping Cleveland in check,” Adams said, obviously happy to have found another arm for his rotation. “It is going to create some relief opportunities for some other people. Consistency is the key and Cole was hitting his spots.

“The only starter that’s set is Jon (Clinard). He’ll pitch on Monday or Tuesday (district games), but Cole has probably earned another (district) start with this game.”