Dante Casantini, Mustangs enjoy breakthrough in PIAA opener
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Dante Casantini has held his spot in Gov. Mifflin’s starting lineup on the strength of his glovework around first base.
He can flash the leather, as he showed in Monday’s 7-2 PIAA Tournament win over Frankford when he started an inning-ending double play in the first.
The lefty can also swing the bat a little, too, as he displayed with a double and triple in his only at-bats. After a tough season at the plate he tweaked his stance last week, closed up to protect the outside of the plate and sparked the Mustangs’ 10-hit attack.
“Now that I’m not (so) open (with my stance), I’m not stepping out,” Casantini said, “I’m stepping toward the pitcher and it allows me to hit the outside pitch better.”
He did that in the fourth inning when he went the opposite way and dropped a double just inside the left field line; two innings earlier he pulled one down the right field line for an RBI that put the Mustangs (21-5) ahead 3-0 in their Class 5A state opener.
“He smoked that ball,” said Mifflin coach Chris Hole. “He’s had his moments with the bat, none bigger than today.”
The win was a breakthrough not only for Casantini, a senior in his first season at Mifflin after transferring from Berks Catholic, but for the Mustangs, as well.
Hard as it might be to believe, Mifflin had never won a PIAA Tournament game in baseball; it had lost its first four state games, all in the past decade.
The moment was not lost on Hole, in his 13th season as Mustangs head coach and on board for each of the other state losses – three of them by one run.
“We’ve been trying to bang down that door,” Hole said. “This felt really good in a sense to do that for a lot of other great players that have come through this program, that have helped climb this mountain to get to this point.”
Mifflin lost state playoff games in 2015, to Council Rock; in 2016, to Wyoming Valley West; iin 2017, to Bethlehem Liberty; and two years ago, to Emmaus in extra innings.
It will go for PIAA Tournament win No. 2 Thursday against District 11 champ Whitehall, a 5-1 winner in the opening round. Site and time have not been announced.
The District 3 runner-up Mustangs once again advanced on the strength of junior Bryce Detwiler, who supplied power with both with his right arm and his bat.
The University of Connecticut recruit pitched a four-hitter, striking out eight. He took a shutout into the sixth before the District 12 runner-up Pioneers (14-5) broke through with three hits. His throwing error, off a bunt, opened up the inning and led to a pair of unearned runs.
Otherwise he was overpowering as he improved to 9-2, lowered his ERA 1.38, and completed his third straight postseason game. He has not been charged with an earned run over 21 innings since the start of the district playoffs.
“Getting a complete game with eight strikeouts in a state game, you don’t really (see) that very much,” Detwiler said, “so it was exciting to be able to that.”
The Berks Player of the Year also homered for the Berks-leading eighth time this season, with two outs in the seventh. That pushed his slugging percentage to .973. He also scored twice, giving him an incredible 43 runs in 26 games.
Casantini, who got to wear the Mustangs’ Player of the Game chain for the first time, was equally excited. He entered the game with a .216 batting average and 22 strikeouts in 25 games. He was determined to change that.
“I’ve had some troubles (at the plate) through districts,” he said. “Coach really helped me with my stance. I had pretty good success with that today, so I’ll stick with it and keep working at it.”
He looks forward to Thursday’s quarterfinal round and a chance to get a few more swings.
“I feel like my defense kept me in the lineup a couple of games,” Casantini said. “And if I can get my bat going, it’ll really benefit us. It feels good to get a spark going. Hopefully I can carry it into the next game. Anything to help the team win, that’s my goal.
“I love these boys so much,” he said of his Mifflin teammates, many of whom he grew up playing with. “This team is great. To be able to keep the season going, it means a lot.”
| Frankford | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Gov. Mifflin | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | x | – | 7 | 10 | 1 |
| Pioneers | AB | R | H | RBI | Mustangs | AB | R | H | RBI | |
| Perez, ss/p | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Detwiler, p | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Roman, p/1b | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Adams, lf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Rivera, 3b/ss | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Jenkins, c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Ramirez, 1b/3b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Grim, 2b | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| Maldonado, lf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Barrett, dh | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Espino, rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Reiter, ss | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| De LosSantos, 2b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Lehman, cr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Paulino, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Koehler, 3b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Martinez, dh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Berg, rf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ulloa, c | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Radwanski, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Zhagui, cf | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Hohl, cf | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Casantini, 1b | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||||||
| Wunderlich, cf/rf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Totals | 23 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 26 | 7 | 10 | 5 |
E: Maldonado; Reiter, Detweiler. 2B: Casantini. 3B: Casantini, Jenkins. HR: Detwiler. SB: Detwiler, Hohl, Grim, Lehman. CS: Rivera. S: Roman; Berg. LOB: Frankford 3, Gov. Mifflin 5.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |||
| Roman, L (3-2) | 4 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 | Detwiler, W (9-2) | 7 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| Perez | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
WP: Roman. HBP: De LosSantos (by Detwiler).
