Bang! Bang! Oh, what a shot from Catlett! Santa Clara Westside 10U All Stars opened District 44 Pool Play against crosstown rival Briarwood on Monday and the fireworks display put on by Westside starting pitcher Caden Catlett deserves an homage to Mike Breen’s historic call of Stephen Curry’s legendary buzzer beater.

Catlett banged the baseball twice over the fence in the All-Star tournament opening game, first a two-run homer in the third that doubled the Westside lead from a two-run advantage to a four-run cushion at 6-2. However, Catlett wasn’t done doubling the Westside lead, as just an inning later, the No. 3 hitter in the Westside lineup smashed the ball over the fence for a second time, yet again doubling his team’s lead. This time, it was a grand slam that pushed Westside’s four-run lead to an eight-run advantage at 12-4. 

The offensive explosion powered Westside to an eventual 13-4 win. On the mound, Catlett threw the max 75 pitches over four innings before giving way to Zach Bosso, who shut the door on Briarwood the rest of the way. 

“I was mostly just looking to hit a single or a double, but it turned out to be a home run,” chimed Catlett on his first home run of the afternoon. “It was just a low fastball and I drove it. The grand slam was a high fastball.” 

Catlett’s offensive performance was terrific just on the surface, but dig a little deeper, and it’s even more impressive considering he walked in a pair of runs in the first inning as a pitcher. He didn’t let that minor hiccup faze him at the plate. 

“Usually, my teammates try to cheer me up [when things go wrong],” responded Catlett on staying focused despite some adversity. “I just try to think of stuff that has gone well in my life.”  

Despite the lopsided final score, there were more than a handful of things that went well for Briarwood in this game. The Briarwood El Camino squad earned its first two runs of the game on bases-loaded walks, but the rally was powered by a one-on, one-out double from Vincenzo Limon. A smash to left-center field, Limon’s double put runners at second and third. 

“Honestly, I was just thinking ‘get a base hit,’” remarked Limon on his first-inning double. “Trying to get on base there with just one out. I think I got a fastball right down the middle, and I just put a good swing on it.” 

The biggest RBI knock for Briarwood came in the bottom of the third when Nehemiah Serrano came up with a line drive to right field with the bases loaded. Serrano’s loud smash drove in a pair of runs and cut the deficit at that point from down four to down just two at 6-4. 

“The pitch I got was kind of low, so I just tried to get good contact on it,” chimed Serrano. “I wanted to get under it a little bit to make sure it got by the fielders.” 

Leo Martinez and Peter Hurtado would pick up the other two RBIs for Briarwood.

Both Briarwood and Westside have three more games remaining in District 44 Pool Play before the elimination bracket begins on July 6.

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