The Keystone College baseball team is two wins away from its 10^th straight Colonial States Athletic Conference title and another automatic bid to the NCAA Division III baseball championships.
 
Getting there, however, may be a lot tougher than it looks. 
 
The Giants, the number one seed, takes on second-seeded Gwynedd Mercy University on Friday, May 11, at 11:00 a.m. at Owls Field at Ted Palka Park in West Lawn, Pennsylvania, with the winner advancing to the first of possibly two championship games Saturday in the double-elimination format.
 
Keystone advanced to Friday's game by downing fourth-seeded Cabrini University, 5-3, Wednesday at Christy Mathewson Field while Gwynedd Mercy overcame a 5-0 deficit to defeat third-seeded Neumann University, 14-6, at their home field on campus in Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania.
 
The Giants and the Griffins split this year's regular-season games, with each team winning on the other's home field.  On April 30, Gwynedd Mercy smashed three home runs and finished with 12 hits in an 11-6 win in La Plume, while Keystone avenged its only conference loss by downing the Griffins, 7-4, two days later in Gwynedd Valley.
 
For either team, a loss Friday makes the road to the conference title and NCAA bid an uphill climb, forcing them to win another game later in the day and two more on Saturday, which could put a major strain on their pitching staffs.
 
Gwynedd Mercy news & notes

• Griffins may be the hottest team in the CSAC, having won 11 of their last 12 games
• Gwynedd Mercy is now 19-12 after starting the season 2-6
• Eight Griffins picked up post-season honors from the CSAC, led by first-team selections Dave Tatoian (2^nd base, pitcher), Tommy Nardini (catcher), and Mike Di Ianni (pitcher).Second-team honors went to Nick Mulvey (3^rd base) and Liam Sullivan (pitcher) and senior Shaughn Wright (outfield) and R.J. Boyle (pitcher) were honorable mention.Justin Fortkus (outfield) was named to the all-Sportsmanship team
• Wright leads the team in hitting with a .382 batting average, followed by Tatoian (.374), Ryan Keen (.360), Mulvey (.323), Evan Miller (.309), and Nardini (.290)
• In 12 appearances, Sullivan is 2-0 on the mound, with a 0.63 earned run average.Di Ianni is 3-2, with a 2.70 earned run average.He leads the Griffins in innings pitched (46..2), strikeouts (34), and complete games (3)
• Gwynedd Mercy is 17-12 against right-handed pitchers and 2-0 against left handers
• Griffins are 9-2 at home, 8-6 on the road, and 2-4 at neutral sites

 
 Keystone news & notes

• Keystone won its 30^th game of the season Wednesday, marking its fourth straight year with at least 30 wins and for the 16^th time in Jamie Shevchik's 17-year tenure as head coach
• Senior pitcher Troy Terzi (Wallingford, Conn./Notre Dame), the 2017 and 2018 CSAC pitcher of the year, earned his first save of the season in Wednesday's 5-3 win over Cabrini, tossing 15 pitches, 10 for strikes, in the ninth inning, relieving freshman Nathan Hinkley (Bradenton, Fla./Saint Lucie West Centennial), who pitched four innings in relief and did not allow a hit to pick up the win
• Giants have won four of their last five and 15 of their last 17 games
• Keystone is currently ranked third in the NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic region
• Junior designated hitter/pitcher Dakota McFadden (Rocky Point, NC/Heide Trask) is the only player to start all 39 games and one of three to play in all 39 games (juniors Ronald Medina (Bronx, NY/Dewitt Clinton) and Chris Panzarella (Hazle Township, Pa./Hazleton Area) are the other two)
• Panzarella, a two-time CSAC second-team selection (2017, 2018), is in the midst of a 16-game hitting streak, raising his batting average from .205 to .308.He is hitting .444 (28 of 63) during this span
• McFadden is three RBIs shy of becoming one of nine players in Keystone history to record 50 in a season
• Terzi's 17 wins over the last two seasons is currently tied for ninth-place on the Giants' all-time list
• Giants' pitching staff features five players with at least four wins:Terzi (8), McFadden (6), Hinkley (5), and juniors Mohammed Hussein (Queens, NY/William C. Bryant) (4) and Christopher Adams (Brooklyn, NY/Franklin K. Lane) (4)