WASHINGTON, Pa.- The Keystone College baseball team kicked off the 2025 season at the Washington and Jefferson Tournament Friday evening. Keystone came away with a 5-1 win over W & J followed by a 12-11 walk-off victory against Wooster.
Keystone moves to 2-0 with the two victories.
Game One: Keystone 5, Washington and Jefferson 1
Hunter Rauch (Lincoln, Del./Cape Henlopen) and Andy Rivas (Bronx, N.Y./Academy for Language and Technology) both tallied two hits. Sean Brennan (Hatfield, Pa./North Penn) got the start on the mound and the win as he went six innings with four strikeouts and gave up three hits and one earned run. Nick Gravel (Sidney, N.Y./Sidney) pitched the rest of the three innings in relief and recorded the save as he struck out four batters while not allowing a single hit.
The Giants scored the first run of the game in the top of the second off a double steal attempt. Washington and Jefferson would respond in the bottom half of that inning with an RBI single by Brendan Cruz.
The contest would remain scoreless until the sixth inning when Donovan Rhoden (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) crossed home plate on a wild pitch which gave Keystone a 2-1 lead. That lead would remain until the top of the ninth when Griffin Yastremski (Bath, N.Y./Haverling) belted a pinch hit three-run home run over the right field wall to extend the lead and seal the first victory of the year.
Game Two: Wooster 11, Keystone 12
Rauch posted four hits in the nightcap with five RBI. Robert Estrada (Maracay, Venezuela/James J. Ferris) tallied two hits with three RBI. Chase Boyle (Millsboro, Del./Sussex Central) contributed two hits with one run scored. Jacob Yager (Grahamsville, N.Y./Tri-Valley) and Cooper Fesh (Bethel, Conn./Bethel) brought a runner home.
Brandon Girod (Elgin, Tex./Elgin) earned the start in game two and went three innings, He allowed seven hits, four earned runs with five punch outs. Drew Sorrentino (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland) appeared in after Girod and was sensational as he struck out seven and gave up two hits in three innings of work. Luke Baker (Schuylkill Haven, Pa./Blue Mountain), Leam Powell (Phillipsport, N.Y./Chapel Field Christian), Dylan Byler (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter-Strasburg), Noah Parks (Maple Valley, Wash./Tahoma), and Anthony Mierez (Granby, Conn./Rockville) also had an appearance on the mound.
Keystone scored ten runs over the first three innings. The Fighting Scots was able to cut into their deficit by scoring four runs in the third and two in the seventh. The Giants added some insurance in the bottom of the eighth as Sean Mindas (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) launched his first collegiate home run down the left field to make the score, 11-6.
Wooster miraculously tied the contest as they tacked on five runs in the ninth which was highlighted by a grand slam by Ryan Kramer. In the bottom of the ninth, Rauch would be the hero as he hit a walk-off run to give the Giants the game two win.
What's Next
Keystone travels to Florida for the RussMatt Baseball Invitational as part of their annual spring Break trip which starts on Mar. 6. The team will face St. John Fisher at 9 a.m. and Wisconsin-Oshkosh at 12:30 p.m.
