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Keystone majors win if game to claim District 12 championship vs. Montoursville

By GARRETT CARR 4 min read

Keystone's baseball summer was hanging in the balance. After Montoursville beat Keystone on Tuesday night to force a winner-take-all game back at Volunteer Stadium in South Williamsport, Montoursville had Keystone on the ropes once again.

Montoursville had cut a 5-1 deficit to 5-4 with a three-run fifth inning and had put the first two hitters on in the top of the sixth for the 4-5-6 hitters in the lineup.

Keystone buckled down just in time.

An infield pop-up and a flyout to left field set up a 3-2 liner right back to relief pitcher Carter Leone on the mound that he caught just before the ball hit the ground clinched a dramatic District 12 major baseball championship.

"Yeah, they're a heck of a team, but our kids stayed locked in from start to finish tonight and were able to come out on top," Keystone manager Matt McDermott said. "It was a total team effort, guys laying down bunts, moving runners, doing whatever we could to scratch out some runs."

That's exactly what Keystone did.

Their bats were relatively quiet for a second-straight night with just three hits in the game once again. But they found a way to manufacture five runs and play just enough defense to keep their summer dreams alive as they head to sectionals.

After Montoursville intentionally walked Keystone slugger Gio Cej both plate appearances in the first championship game on Tuesday when Cej ws in No. 3 in the batting order, McDermott moved him up to the leadoff spot. Montoursville once again intentionally walked him in each of his three plate appearances on Wednesday.

Keystone made them pay in the first inning.

After Cej was walked, Brooks Warner hit a one-out single through the left side and Jaxon Orndorf hit a two-out single up the middle to open the scoring. Then Warner would score on a dropped third stroke to put Keystone up 2-0 through the opening frame.

They added another run in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly by Warner to go up 3-0 after two errors sandwiched around a walk to Cej loaded the bases with one out.

Cej, throwing in the low-70s, started on the mound for Keystone and was dominant early on. But Montoursville drove up his pitch count and it took him 67 pitches to get through the first three innings hitless and scoreless. Getting him to his 85-pitch limit as quickly as possible seemed to be Montoursville's plan.

"We didn't know what we were going to get out of him -- he hadn't pitched in a couple of weeks. So the plan was to ride him as long as we could," McDermott said. "But like I've said before, we've got the arms. Every kid on this team has pitched during the regular season, and we trust any of them to go out there."

Montoursville's patience paid off.

An RBI single by Wyatt Wolfe on Cej's 85th and final pitch was the only hit the righty allowed and it cut the Keystone lead to 3-1.

Keystone answered right back in the bottom-half of the fourth as a leadoff walk to Orndoff was followed by a sacrifice bunt attempt by Ryker Packach that Montoursville couldn't get an out on as the throw to get the lead runner at second was too late.

Another sacrifice bunt, this time by Karter Markle, moved the runners over to second and third, and a ball of the bat of Leone was misplayed at second by Montoursville as Keystone went up 5-1.

Montoursville answered back in the fifth as a two-out error scored two runs and a passed ball brought in another to make it 5-4. But Leone was able to get a key out with the go-ahead run on second to end the frame, setting up the dramatic sixth inning.

Keystone advances to play in the Section 3 tournament against the District 15 champion on July 12 in Athens.

Montoursville 000 130 -- 4 3 3

Keystone 201 20x -- 5 3 2

Zach George, Cameron Kriner Jr. (4), Jase Strangler (5) and James Maeulen. Gio Cej, Dylan McDermott (4) Carter Leone (5) and Jordan Germello. W: Cej. L: George.

Top Montoursville hitters: Wyatt Wolfe RBI single. Top Keystone hitters: Gio Cej 3 IBB; Brooks Warner 1B, sac fly, RBI; Jaxon Ordnorf 1B, BB, RBI; Ryker Packach sac bunt; Karter Markle sac bunt.

Starting at /week.