Keglovits leads Nazareth over East Stroudsburg

FROM MIKE BLOUSE

One of Karl Keglovits' greatest strengths as an athlete — besides his 6-foot-6 frame and 90 mph fastball — is his innate ability to block out potential distractions, according to Nazareth Legion baseball manager Jason Brown.

And you could count the University of Florida head baseball coach flying 1,000 miles to watch you pitch as a possible cause of anxiety.

With 2011 National College Coach the Year Kevin O'Sullivan in the stands on a sun-splashed Saturday at Nazareth Boro Park, Keglovtis outpitched East Stroudsburg's Westyn Baylor in a classic duel. Keglovits, a rising senior at Nazareth High School, delivered a two-hitter with 11 strikeouts while Baylor scattered six hits and struck out six.

Two-time defending Northampton County Legion champion Nazareth scored twice in the second inning and held on for a 2-1 victory in Game 1 of the best-of-three semifinal series.

Game 2 is 11 a.m. Sunday at Nazareth's Boro Park with a decisive third game, if necessary, set for 3 p.m. at East Stroudsburg University.

Keglovits' playoff performance — he also hit a ground-ball single and drew a walk batting out of the cleanup spot in the lineup — was unaffected by O'Sullivan's presence at the game or his lack of recent work on the pitching mound.

(O'Sullivan coached Florida to last month's College World Series championships, where the Gators lost to Southeastern Conference rival South Carolina.)

"Karl refuses to let his emotions get the best of him," Nazareth manager Jason Brown said. "Bad calls, errors or other things outside that happen outside the game, they don't affect him."

"I didn't really have any extra nerves," Keglovits said. "I've pitched in front of college coaches, pro scouts and in big games before. (Coach O'Sullivan) called me on the first day coaches could (July 1) and told me he wanted to come see me pitch. I think it went well."

The talented right-hander dominated top-seeded East Stroudsburg's lineup with the exception of some second-inning injury struggles. He said his back tightened early in the frame, and the regular-season co-champions loaded the bases, but Keglovits was helped out by his defense and the strikeout pitch to end the inning.

Right fielder Shane Siebler threw out James Hartman on a close play at the plate after a soft line-drive single by Nolan Santana. Keglovits then struck out Steven Grober for the third out.

"I felt good warming up and really good in the first inning," said Keglovits, who struck out the side to start off the contest. "But I tightened up in the second and was all over the place. I threw a lot of balls. But our assistant coach massaged my back in between innings and the muscle in my back relaxed. That's never happened before."

East Stroudsburg's only run came in the top of the seventh when Michael Agosto singled to lead off the inning, stole second and third, then scored on Baylor's groundout.

Keglovits was consistently clocked between 86-88 mph with his fastball by East Stroudsburg University coach John Kochmansky, and it topped out at 90. He was The Morning Call's Pitcher of the Year this spring for his exploits at Nazareth, finishing with an 8-1 record, a 1.42 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 59 1/3 innings.

It is very likely Keglovits will be selected in Major League Baseball's 2012 First-Year Player Draft, but the two-sport athlete is also the recruiting target of many elite colleges.

"I have no idea where I'll go," said Keglovits, who listed Florida, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland among the early front-runners. "But I really want to go to college. Education is my top priority right now."

Fourth-seeded Nazareth (16-7) provided Keglovits with all the offense he would need in the bottom of the second inning.

Jordan Smith walked, stole second, went to third on a groundout and scored on a two-out passed ball. No. 9 hitter Jake Criscuolo then stroked a single to center field, stole second and raced home on Siebler's ground ball single into left field.

Criscuolo was the game's only multiple hitter with two singles.

With the exception of his second-inning struggles, Baylor, a recent Bangor graduate, was as effective as Keglovits. He held down the potent Nazareth lineup with a fastball clocked in the mid-80s and a sharp-breaking curveball. Baylor pitched East Stroudsburg (16-6-2) to a 3-2 win over Nazareth during the regular season.

"I told our coaches, I thought the first team to score two runs would win," Brown said. "And fortunately it was us. We got the type of performance we expected from Karl. And we got the type of performance we expected to see from Wes Baylor."

East Stroudsburg manager Kevin Hezel is confident his club can bounce back with a pair of wins today, and advance to the NorCo championship series.

"I think the only two runs they scored came on our mistakes. But absolutely we can come back Sunday," Hezel said. "We know we can play with this team – and beat them."

East Stroudsburg 000 000 1 – 1 2 0

Nazareth 020 000 x – 2 6 0

Baylor and Grober; Keglovits and Dauscher.

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