“It applies to the a lot of the stuff I do.”
Three years later — plus three inches, 60 pounds and 16 miles per hour of fastball velocity — he’s blazed a trail that will be long remembered in the school’s history, partially thanks to that mentality.
He helped bring the program its first state title in its short history in 2017. This spring, the right-handed pitcher was instrumental in getting the team back to the 1A state championship game. And on Wednesday he was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 11th round of the Major League Baseball Draft, becoming the first player pro baseball player from the program.
For all that, Casetta-Stubbs is The Columbian’s All-Region baseball player of the year.
To become the player he is today, Casetta-Stubbs always had to be different.
Different in the way he concocted his windup. His grandpa taught him the “old-school” way, where he cocks his hands over his head.
Different in the clear prescription athletic glasses he wears snug on his head, a signature look he acquired out of necessity after he took a knuckleball to the chest while playing catch with Skyview’s Daniel Copeland last summer.
And different enough to be one of the first two four-year baseball players at King’s Way — alongside Riley Danberg — even when the allure of a bigger program seemed enticing. It helped too, Casetta-Stubbs said, to see former Knights standout basketball player Kienan Walter (now at NCAA Division I University of North Dakota) excelling at a small school.
Even when he’d hear teammates at club baseball give him a perplexed, “you go where?!” he assured himself that he could be a part of something special at King’s Way.
Plus, the small school vibe suited him.
“I actually like it,” he said. “I don’t like the big crowd. It’s been cool because I get to know people on a more personal basis, I guess.”
Then as a sophomore, when fellow ace and now-Washington State commit Sam Lauderdale transferred to King’s Way his sophomore year, he found friendly competition. The two would push, and at the end of the day, support each other.
“He was right there,” Casetta-Stubbs said.
It wasn’t until the summer going into his senior season that Casetta-Stubbs started to notice college coaches and scouts taking a hard look.
He saw the biggest leap within the last six months. His fastball was firmly at 88 miles per hour going into the season and he saw it start to touch 91. Then during a league game against Stevenson, he threw what he felt like was his best stuff. Stepping off the mound, somehow with a radar gun indicating “96.” A Minnesota Twins scout in attendance later told him he clocked it at 97.
That stunned Casetta-Stubbs.
“I had no clue it would be possible to hit 97,” he said. “Perfect timing.”
Draft prospect aside, King’s Way made a return trip to the 1A state title game in part thanks to Casetta-Stubbs. He pitched a complete game shutout with eight strikeouts and two hits in just 69 pitches in the regional semifinal. Then in the state semis, he fanned 12, walked one and allowed four hits to launch the Knights back into the title game.
Coming up short of a repeat championship hurt, Casetta-Stubbs said, but the team stayed that night in Yakima and used the loss as one final bonding moment.
“It was a 20-minute spell of us being mad then after that was pretty normal, just like the team again,” he said.
Now, all graduated and set to move on, Casetta-Stubbs will report to Peoria, Ariz., this week for his physical, and start to his career with the Seattle Mariners.
Years from now he knows when he returns to the halls of King’s Way, there will be a plaque commemorating the program’s first title.
