Liberty received a late-season look at Karl Keglovits' pitching ability.
The Hurricanes had no more luck in their second crack at Nazareth's sophomore ace.
Keglovits took the mound wanting to duplicate the two-hitter he tossed against Liberty in the final week of the regular season. He came close, holding the No. 4 seed Hurricanes to four hits over seven strong innings.
No. 5 Nazareth supported him with a six-run fourth inning, sending it to an 8-1 win in a District 11 Class 4A baseball quarterfinal Tuesday afternoon. The Blue Eagles (15-6) advanced to Thursday's semifinals and will meet No. 1 Pleasant Valley, a 4-0 winner over No. 8 Whitehall.
Keglovits (6-2) also collected a complete-game win against Liberty (15-7) two weeks ago in a 5-1 win.
''I just came out with the same intensity I had in the other game and came out strong,'' Keglovits said.
Added Nazareth catcher Karl Dauscher: ''Karl always gives us a good look when he goes out there. He always gives us a chance to win. Not many teams score a lot of runs on him, that's for sure.''
The expected pitching duel between Keglovits and Liberty ace Colin Gotzon lasted for three innings. Patience from Nazareth's lineup and a couple of miscues by Liberty's defense changed the tenor of the afternoon in the fourth.
A leadoff single from Doug Peppel (2-for-4) and two walks gave Keglovits an RBI chance. He delivered by stroking an 0-2 pitch for a two-run single.
Gotzon (four innings, three hits, six runs, five walks, four strikeouts) issued two more walks in the inning and watched a ground ball turn into a two-run error. Shane Siebler's squeeze bunt and Kris Kent's two-out RBI single busted the game open.
''We felt as though it would be a real low-scoring game, and our approach as a team was just to play a little small ball and scratch out a couple of runs and end up winning 3-2, 2-1, something like that,'' Nazareth coach Jon Lock said.
''The fourth inning just kind of clicked for us, and we made the best of the opportunities we had.''
Keglovits kept Liberty from producing an answering rally. He followed the offensive outburst with a four-pitch inning, including a double-play grounder from Liberty cleanup hitter James Bertolotti.
Keglovits finished with one walk and seven strikeouts. Liberty claimed its lone run against him in the seventh, using a one-out single from Tyler Brong (2-for-3) and an RBI double from Nick Lule to break up the shutout.
''They might be the most talented team in the [Lehigh Valley Conference],'' Liberty coach Andy Pitsilos said of the Blue Eagles. ''I don't know how far they're going to go. I know their No. 2 pitcher is decent. But as long as Keglovits is on the mound, they're going to have a chance to beat anybody. He's one of those pitchers.''
After missing out on the LVC playoffs, Nazareth hopes to have at least two more wins in it. That would give the Blue Eagles the District 11 Class 4A title and a trip to the PIAA state playoffs.
''We were disappointed with not getting an LVC playoff berth, but that entire week we had all this time to prepare for districts,'' Dauscher said. ''That's our focus right now. I feel like we really have our heads on straight and we're going to make a good run in districts.''
Nazareth -- 000 - 610 - 1 -- 8-7-0
Liberty -- 000 - 000 - 1 -- 1-4-3
Keglovits and Dauscher; Gotzon, Albright (5) and Lule.
From the Morning Call
On this page I will have all information on sports events from Nazareth High School and all other sports events in the country. I will also have news about myself and other people.
No comments:
Post a Comment