Casey, Eagles win series opener
GLENDALE — The following are updates on local athletes at the collegiate level.
Danny Casey (Glendale Community College, 2009) Concordia University, Irvine baseball, senior: Casey and Concordia stayed hot on their biggest stage thus far, opening up National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics World Series play with an impressive 7-2 victory over Faulkner University on Friday morning in Lewiston, Ida.
The La Crescenta resident went two for three with three runs scored, was hit by a pitch, reached on an error and stole a base. Casey scored in the second, fourth and eighth innings.
The Eagles (39-18) will now take on Embry-Riddle today at 3:30 p.m.
For the season, Casey is now hitting .290 (42 for 145) with 24 runs, 26 runs batted in and eight stolen bases.
Brenton Wunner (Glendale Community College, 2009) Occidental College baseball, senior: The former Vaquero was off to a torrid start as the Tigers starting catcher, starting in 10 games and hitting .393 before he was lost for the season with a broken leg.
Up to that point, Wunner had 11 hits in 28 at-bats, seven runs scored, three runs batted in, four stolen bases and, behind the dish, sported a spotless 1.000 fielding percentage.
Occidental wound up struggling to a 13-26 record, while going 9-19 in the Southern California Interscholastic Athletic Conference.
Matt Ashby (Crescenta Valley High, 2009) University of La Verne baseball, sophomore: The former Falcon got a fair share of playing time for a Leopards squad that went 25-14 overall and 20-8 in the SCIAC.
The outfielder played in 31 games and got seven starts, hitting .257 on nine hits in 35 at-bats. He scored 10 runs and drove five in, adding six walks for a .366 on-base percentage.
Ben Gass (Glendale Community College, 2010) Bethany College baseball, junior: Gass did a little of everything for Bethany, which went 17-34 on the season.
At the plate, he hit .221 with 27 hits in 122 at-bats, but his slugging percentage was at a .377 clip, as he had 14 extra-base hits, including three triples. Gass also had 21 runs scored and drove in 21. He added 10 walks and 10 hit-by-pitches.
Gass also did a bit of pitching, appearing in three games and going 1-1 with a save while garnering a spotless 0.00 earned-run average.
Erik Allen (Glendale Community College, 2010) Bethany College baseball, junior: The GCC product had his ups and downs on the hill for the Kansas college.
On the season, he went 3-7 with a team-leading four saves. He pitched in 18 games, accumulating 27 innings and tallied a 5.00 ERA. He struck out 12 batters to 14 walks.
Bethany, an NAIA school, went 17-34 and 11-17 in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference.