By RICHIE HALL
WESTFIELD – University has been all around the eastern United States this spring, playing games in Tennessee and Florida.
The Trailblazers were back at their home field, RoundTripper Academy in Westfield on Friday, April 17. University celebrated that homecoming with a 12-2, six-inning victory over Greenwood Christian Academy.
The Blazers’ out-of-state trips were part of the Legacy Project, which pairs an inner-city school with an established program for workouts and training during the IHSAA’s limited contact period. Both schools then go on a Spring Break together. University was paired with Arsenal Tech and Purdue Poly this year.
“It was really an awesome thing,” said Blazers coach Chris Estep. “The kids that worked with Tech High School and Purdue Poly all went. To be able to do that and then go and play, watch each other play, it’s really neat. We’re trying to find a couple of games where we can go and watch Purdue Poly play, we’re going to go see Tech play. It’s a really neat program that the IHSAA put together.”
University slowly but resolutely made its way to the run-rule win. Ryan Castetter scored the Blazers’ first run in the first inning, getting home on Beckett Suh’s RBI groundout.
Oliver Kingery doubled in Castetter in the third inning, then David Gasper sent a two-RBI hit into left field to bring in Suh and Kingery. University held a 4-0 lead after that.
The Cougars scored one run each in the top of the fourth and fifth innings. But University dominated the remainder of the game. Suh hit a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth, then Finn Steiner blasted a left field double to score Kingery and Gasper.
The Blazers wrapped up the game with five runs in the sixth inning. Ethan Cutsinger was walked, then Castetter smacked a double. Both players were sent home by a Kingery single. Steiner doubled in Suh and Kingery, then Philip Jacobs ended the game with a single to bring in Gasper.
Castetter, Suh and Kingery all finished with three hits. Chase Fankhauser pitched 3.1 innings of hitless ball for the win, tossing four strikeouts.
“They’re searching for the identity of how to come out and play, put people away,” said Estep. “They’re searching for that right now. We’ve played a lot of really good teams. We’ve played a lot of games already. I think they’re going to figure it out here down the road.”
University is 6-5 and plays at Lewis Cass this afternoon.
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