Trio of Region 10 stars commit to College of Southern Idaho

Sean Ellertson, St. George Spectrum & Daily News
·3 min read

Last Tuesday, a trio of Region 10 baseball standouts committed to JUCO powerhouse, the College of Southern Idaho.

Cedar’s Myles Topham, Desert Hills’ Cole DeCastro, and Crimson Cliffs’ Brexten Starley all announced their commitment after visiting last week.

Myles Topham only played in 12 games last year for Cedar, but had multiple D-I and JUCO offers.
Myles Topham only played in 12 games last year for Cedar, but had multiple D-I and JUCO offers.

The trio says that playing together was always something that they had considered but hadn’t made an official plan to all commit together.

Starley remembers the group playing Apples To Apples at a CSI camp and thinking “why not go to CSI and play with our friends?”

Topham chose the Golden Eagles over Hawaii, Salt Lake Community College, and the College of Southern Nevada, among others.

“I’ve always wanted to play with these guys,” said Topham. “We’ve been playing our whole lives growing up.”

Topham battled injuries and arm fatigue last year at Cedar, but the hard-throwing right hander still caught the eyes of D-I and top-tier JUCO schools.

For Starley, the opportunity wouldn’t have presented itself without the help of DeCastro.

Starley said he had been in talks with Utah Tech, but no offer had come from the Trailblazers.

Brex Starley's three-run home run put Crimson Cliffs in front 10-7 in a back and forth game against Pine View.
Brex Starley's three-run home run put Crimson Cliffs in front 10-7 in a back and forth game against Pine View.

Starley was at a Utah Tech camp with DeCastro when DeCastro told assistant coach Antonio Rainone about the Crimson Cliffs catcher.

“We always talked about playing together, and when we went up this past week it just felt right,” said Starley.

Starley helped lead Crimson Cliffs to their first ever state championship, hitting .419 with two home runs and 25 RBIs.

In the state tournament, Starley hit safely in four out of five games, including six RBIs in a win over Pine View, highlighted by a three-run shot following an intentional walk to Trey Evans in a 17-13 win for the Mustangs.

DeCastro’s recruiting journey started off slowly due to COVID-19.

“Everything was based off video and I’m not much of stats guy, so I was just kind of under-looked. I finally got my chance when I met Antonio at the PBR West Games,” said DeCastro.

DeCastro hit .478 and had RBIs in his final six games a year ago for the Thunder out of the leadoff spot.

Cole DeCastro makes a diving play in the hole at shortstop to take two runs off the board for Dixie.
Cole DeCastro makes a diving play in the hole at shortstop to take two runs off the board for Dixie.

Topham, DeCastro, and Starley all add to an ever-growing number of 4A, and Region 10 players signed on to top-tier programs.

“I think that 4A baseball is the most under-looked, competitive baseball,” said Starley. “I don’t think there’s much more competitive baseball in the state of Utah besides 4A.”

The 2023 graduates still have another year of high school ball, but DeCastro and Starley are looking forward to playing in a wood bat league.

Sean Ellertson is a sports reporter for the St. George Spectrum & Daily News. To continue to support his work, please subscribe to The Spectrum. Follow Sean on Twitter @SeanEllertson.

This article originally appeared on St. George Spectrum & Daily News: Trio of Region 10 stars commit to College of Southern Idaho