That freshman catcher Diego Bastidas is a talented baseball player didn’t come as a surprise to Metea Valley coach Steve Colombe.
Bastidas’ older brother Daniel played for the Mustangs and recently transferred to Middle Tennessee State.
“So we’ve known about Diego for a while now,” Colombe said.
The rest of the high school baseball world is getting introduced to Bastidas too.
“He started with our frosh/soph team, caught, played the infield and pitched,” Colombe said. “We needed a little more depth at the varsity level, and he’s probably the first guy we gave an opportunity to.
“We gave him a shot against Waubonsie about a month ago, and he got an RBI triple in one of his first games.”
Bastidas did a lot more than that during his playoff debut on Monday. Hitting out of the No. 9 slot, Bastidas went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored as the 17th-seeded Mustangs upset 16th-seeded Neuqua Valley 9-5 in a Class 4A Plainfield North Regional quarterfinal game in Naperville.
Metea Valley (8-20), which lost two of three DuPage Valley Conference games against the rival Wildcats (12-22) during the regular season, advances to play top-seeded Lockport (23-12) in a regional semifinal at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
“It’s huge,” Colombe said. “It’s one of the best games we’ve had at a clutch time.”
No one was more clutch than Bastidas. The Wildcats led 1-0 in the bottom of the second and had runners at first and second with nobody out. When Jaleel Glover swung through a bunt attempt, Bastidas picked off Malachi Sherman at second. Then Bastidas threw out Kaden Kraemer as he tried to steal second.
“I’m always trying to be aware of my surroundings and what’s going on,” Bastidas said. “(Glover) missed a bunt, so I saw (Sherman) getting a little lead, so I just tried to throw it as hard as I can.”
The two defensive gems proved to be a turning point.
“It might have been the difference in the game,” Colombe said. “That was really nice.”
What Bastidas did with his bat was nice too. After Carter Behrns walked to lead off the fourth, Bastidas singled and went to third on a tie-breaking RBI double by Diego Gutierrez.
With nobody out and first base open, the Wildcats opted to pitch to Oklahoma-bound Tyler Gluting, who hit a three-run home run to center to give the Mustangs a 5-1 lead. It was the eighth home run of the season for Gluting, who has been impressed with Bastidas’ play.
“He’s been great,” Gluting said. “Coming out as a freshman halfway through the year, he got started right away.
“I definitely like him behind the plate, but his hitting is just as good. He’s not scared of any pitching as a freshman facing juniors and seniors.”
Both teams scored twice in the fifth, with Southern commit Christian Lott
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hitting a two-run homer to pull Neuqua Valley within 7-4. But Bastidas got those runs back with a hustling two-out double that plated Michael Willhite and Owen Goeb in the sixth.So what is the best part of Bastidas’ game right now?
“I think it’s definitely my defense because I’ve always prioritized that,” he said. “I’ve just got to work on hitting, but I think I’m doing really well in both.”
Bastidas tries to emulate his brother as well as Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez and former St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina.
“I just try to be a leader even though I’m one of the youngest guys,” Bastidas said. “The seniors always guide me to be who I am. I’m just being vocal and being a leader out there, just do what I can do to help out the team.”
It’s still early, of course, but Bastidas reminds some people of Waubonsie Valley star catcher Shane Torres, who also came up to varsity as a freshman.
“I think that’s a great target for him,” Colombe said. “The sky is the limit if he keeps working on his game, gets a little stronger, gets in the weight room and physically matures and gets some more experience.”
Bastidas is just looking forward to experiencing another playoff game. The Mustangs will be massive underdogs against Lockport, but Bastidas said they’re on a high after beating Neuqua Valley.
“It’s just going to transfer onto the next game and just bring the energy,” he said. “We’re just going to do our best to make it as far as we can.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.