BRADFORD — All it takes is one input to change the complexity of a game and change the momentum. Keystone proved it Wednesday night at the University of Pittsburgh in Bradford in his first game of the Pennsylvania state tournament.
Keystone trailed by five runs before breaking out in a big five-run fifth inning to tie the game and force additional innings, en route to a thrilling 8-6 win to move up the winners’ bracket.
The victory advanced Keystone to Thursday’s winner’s bracket semifinal against Hollidaysburg at 7:30 pm Hollidaysburg opened the tournament with a 6-2 victory against Hermitage.
Leading by three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, Keystone forced out DuBois’ leadoff hitter before issuing a walk on a full count to put a DuBois runner on first base.
DuBois’ runner reached third on two pitches to put a runner in scoring position and another walk put a runner on first base.
DuBois scored a run when Keystone forced one out in the second inning, cutting the deficit to 8-6 with the tying runner at bat before forcing the third out to seal the win.
Gabe Killinger (three RBIs) had a monster three-run double after Keystone loaded the bases with no outs to cut the deficit to just 5-3 in the fifth inning. Ashton Falls managed to put in two runners in the next at-bat. Luke Nonemaker singled to drive in Killinger and drive Falls to third base. Hayes Donley would be walked to load the bases then.
With one out, Falls scored from third to tie the game at 5-5 with Keystone runners on first and second. DuBois recorded the second out when Nonemaker advanced to third to put runners on the corners, but the score remained 5-5 entering the bottom of the sixth inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, Keystone took out the first three batters to force extra innings.
Gabe Killinger helped drive in Charles Ramos, who reached to start the top of the seventh. The race gave Keystone its first lead of the night.
Killinger was then moved to third on an Ashton Falls hit to put runners in the corner with only one out. Nonemaker, who helped wake Keystone in the sixth inning during his five-run inning, reached to load the bases. Donley walked, allowing another run to put Keystone ahead, 7-5.
After a pitching change, Keystone added another run after Kyle Everette reached base, adding a run, to go up 8-5.
DuBois opened a scoreless game with a run in the bottom of the third inning to make it 1-0. DuBois had runners on first and second with no outs early in the inning before scoring the run.
Both teams remained scoreless in the fourth inning. In the bottom of the fifth inning, DuBois managed to load the bases with just one out before a walk allowed a runner to score, giving DuBois a 2–0 lead. DuBois would score a third run to give him a 3-0 lead when Keystone recorded one out in the second inning. With two outs, DuBois managed to put in another run to advance 4-0.
DuBois would score one more in the bottom of the fifth before Keystone recorded the third out to put up a 5-0 lead entering the sixth inning.
Kyle Everette started for Keystone and struck out four in the first three innings he pitched and had a solid outing, limiting DuBois’ bats early on.
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Source: www.lockhaven.com