By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
BEDFORD – The wait for Bedford North Lawrence’s season opener was worth it.
With a sophomore left-hander making a big splash in his varsity debut, Steven McNabb won his first game as the new head coach of the Stars, posting a chilly 6-1 victory over Hamilton Heights on Monday evening.
Cutler Chastain struck out nine in four innings of one-hit work, and Cam Gates finished off the Huskies as BNL answered the first question – can the Stars pitch well enough? – concerning the 2025 campaign. The sophomore-heavy lineup was more than equal to the challenge.
“We have six sophomores out there, and I didn’t know what to expect, to be honest, in all phases,” McNabb said. “But I love our enthusiasm, I love our grit, our togetherness is exceptional. These are baseball players. Every game won’t be like tonight, we will have our lumps. But I couldn’t be more proud.”
The kids were also the keys offensively. Chastain had three hits and drove in two runs, and classmate Lucas Ira had two hits.
BNL struck first in the second as Ira singled home Jaden Gilbert with a clutch two-out hit. In the fourth, with the bases loaded, Chastain drilled a two-run single to right, and Cam Gates followed with a RBI single for a 4-0 advantage. That would be more than enough.
The Stars added two insurance runs in the sixth as Cal Gates scored on a wild pitch and Tate Tanksley added a run-scoring single.
“I can’t say enough great things about the effort,” McNabb said. “Everybody contributed, it was a total team effort. You start with what Cutler did on the mound, and at the plate. Some guys go their whole career and not get three hits in a game, and this was his first game as a varsity player.“
“I had nerves, but I was excited,” Chastain said. “I had it all working on the mound. It was throwing strikes, getting ahead, letting my players work. At the plate, just go up there and hit the ball, do what I need to do.”
Cam Gates fanned six in three innings of relief work.
“We picked each other up,” McNabb said. “We had some great pick-me-up moments. I’m over-the-moon proud, not just for my first game, but it was a lot of first games for them. To go out and put it all together was a lot of fun.”
BNL will visit Silver Creek on Tuesday.
