La PLUME, Pa. – After splitting Sunday's doubleheader with St. Elizabeth University, the Keystone College baseball team enjoyed a 15-5 victory over the visiting Eagles in deciding game three of the CSAC semifinals on Monday, advancing to the championship series against Wilson College on May 13-14.
The No. 1 seed Giants (22-17) will host the No. 2 seed Phoenix (30-9) in game one on Friday, May 13 at 3:30 p.m. Game two and if necessary game three will be on Saturday, May 14, starting at 12 p.m.
Keystone split with Wilson back on March 20, falling 3-1 before earning a 4-3 win as the Giants will be in search of the program's 17th-straight conference championship this upcoming weekend.
The Giants won the opener yesterday against SEU, 2-1, but fell 15-8 in game two to force Monday's deciding game three.
Following a leadoff homer by the Eagles, Keystone answered with a solo homer by Adam Kelly (Beach Lake, Pa./Honesdale) to tie the contest at 1-1. Kelly's blast opened up a seven-run second inning as Bobby Pokorney (Margate, Fla./J.P. Taravella) enjoyed an RBI single followed by a two-run double by JD Barrett (Moosic, Pa./Dallas), who later scored on a passed ball. Vince Montone (Oak Ridge, N.J./Jefferson Township) and Julio Acosta (Elizabeth, N.J./Hudson Catholic) scored on a throwing error to stretch the Keystone lead to 8-1.
After exploding for the seven-run second, the Keystone bats stayed hot by tacking on six more runs in the fifth to take a commanding 13-1 lead. Chris Hadsall (Lehman, Pa./Lake Lehman) tallied a sacrifice fly, Barrett drove in two more runs, Acosta ripped a two-run double to left-center and RJ Gouldsbury (Throop, Pa./Mid Valley) notched an RBI single to left. The Eagles tallied three runs to cut the lead to 13-4 before Gouldsbury stole home in the seventh and Acosta drew a bases-loaded walk in the eighth to complete the scoring barrage for the Giants.
Overall, KC finished with 15 hits, as all but one starter finished with at least one base knock. Barrett and Acosta combined for seven RBI at the top of the order while Gouldsbury, Montone, and Kelly combined for eight hits. Pedro Abreu (Bronx, N.Y./Santa Teresa) went 2-for-3 with three runs scored.
Patrick Adamski (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) earned the start for Keystone and tossed four frames, allowing just one earned run with six flyouts and five groundouts, tossing 63 pitches. Nick Gravel (Sidney, N.Y./Sidney) appeared in relief and was credited with the win, throwing 2.1 innings with two strikeouts, two flyouts, and three groundouts on 68 pitches. Julian Gonzalez (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) and Ross Zanghi (Scranton, Pa./Scranton) pitched the final 2.2 innings.
