Nazareth wins, Bath loses in American Legion Region 2 baseball tournament

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

Karl Keglovits proved that his dangerous bat can be just as efficient as his powerful pitching arm.

The slugging first baseman was 3-for-5 with two home runs and nine RBIs Saturday to lead Nazareth Legion to a 16-5 victory over Fullerton in the first round of the double-elimination American Legion Region 2 tournament at Hostelley Field in North Wales, Pa.

Nazareth, the three-time defending Northampton County champion, will play at 7:30 tonight against Saturday night's winner between Nor-Gwyn and Southern Area.

Keglovits belted a grand slam off losing pitcher Evan Roman in the second inning and added a two-run shot in the ninth. He also produced a two-run single in the eighth inning and had an RBI grounder in which he reached on an error in the first.

"Karl has become a very good hitter," Nazareth manager Jason Brown said. "He's learned what to look for in certain counts and take what the pitcher gives him. He knows how to hit in situations and understands what the pitcher is trying to do to him."

Keglovits had a simple explanation for his success.

"I was just trying to zone in and hit the ball on the barrel," he said. "I squared up on the ball. I had a multi-homer game against Freemansburg early in the season but this one was better because it's tougher competition."

Keglovits was far from a one-man gang. Third baseman Dan Shepherd was 4-for-6. Right fielder Shane Siebler and left fielder Ben Schmitt each added three hits to Nazareth's 16-hit attack. Taylor Magditch pitched eight innings to earn the win.

"I like this field," Shepherd said. "I don't know why but I think the whole team would agree. It's definitely a hitter's field. The infield has some holes in it that make the ball jump around."

Nazareth's fielding was sub-par at times. It committed four errors and Brown was quick to voice his displeasure.

"I was thoroughly disappointed with our effort today," he said. "We have no chance to win any more games in this tournament if we play defense like we did today. Fullerton doesn't even belong on the same field as us. The fact that we let them hang around for five innings is extremely upsetting."

Fullerton was within 7-5 before Nazareth scored one run in the sixth inning, five in the eighth and three in the ninth to pull away.

Keglovits' grand slam gave Nazareth a 7-0 lead in the second inning. The hit followed a walk to Jake Criscuolo, an infield hit by Shepherd and a walk to Mike Garzillo.

His two-run blast was preceded by a single by Garzillo.

"The first one was a fastball right down the middle and the second one was a hanging curve," Keglovits said.

"(Keglovits) is amazing," Shepherd said. "He does it all."

Keglovits nonchalantly tossed the bat away and admired his second home run in an air of showmanship.

"(Fullerton) was saying stuff the whole game but I didn't mean to be cocky," Keglovits said. "I was just trying to fire up my team."

"Karl always steps up in big games," Brown said. "The more eyes, the merrier."

Boyertown 15, Bath 5

Travis Kreitz, Chris Werner and Luke Stong each had two hits and three RBIs as Berks County champion Boyertown pulled away for a 15-5 mercy rule win over Bath.

Bath, the NorCo runner-up, had leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 5-4 before Boyertown erupted for four runs in the fifth inning, two in the sixth and five in the seventh. Andrew Gehringer belted a two-run homer in the fifth inning to give Boyertown an 8-5 lead.

"We hung tough for five or six innings but that home run was pretty much the nail in the coffin," Bath manager Dave Brong said. "At that point, we weren't able to hold them back with our pitching. I'm not happy with any loss let alone a 15-5 loss."

Andreas Haller had a double and scored two runs for Bath. Robert Bertolotti's RBI single gave Bath its last lead at 5-4 in the fifth inning.

Bath falls into the losers bracket where it will play Northern Valley at 9:45 this morning.

"It's going to be a tough go the rest of the way," Brong said, "but we'll be OK. Our pitchers are ready to go."

NAZARETH (ab-r-h-bi) - Siebler rf 4-3-3-1, Schmitt lf 5-3-3-0, Garzillo ss 4-3-2-0, Keglovits 1b 5-4-3-9, Dauscher dh 4-0-0-0, Shepherd 3b 6-2-4-2, Charlie c 6-0-1-0, Criscuolo cf 3-0-0-0, Godiska 2b 4-1-0-1. Totals 41-16-16-13.

FULLERTON (ab-r-h-bi) - Fuentes cf 5-1-2-1, Bonshak lf 1-0-0-0, Taves 3b/p 5-1-2-1, Umbenhauer c 5-1-2-0, Harris rf 5-1-3-1, Pagan 2b 5-0-1-0, Tatasciore ss 3-0-0-0, Ortiz dh 3-1-1-0, Farr 1b 3-0-0-0, Watson lf 4-0-0-0, Sverha p/3b 0-0-0-0. Totals 39-5-11-3.

Nazareth 340 001 053 - 16 16 4

Fullerton 002 120 000 - 5 11 2

E - Shepherd, Siebler, Godiska, Magditch; Tatasciore, Watson. DP - Nazareth 2. LOB - Nazareth 10; Fullerton 10. 2B - Charlie, Siebler; Umbenhauer 2, Harris. HR - Keglovits 2, Shepherd. SB - Siebler 3, Keglovits, Dauscher; Tatasciore 2, Fuentes, Ortiz, Harris. CS - Dauscher. S - Garzillo.

Magditch, Heiserman (9) and Charlie; Roman, Sverha (8), Taves (9) and Umbenhauer. W - Magditch. L - Roman. SO-BB - Magditch 7-3, Heiserman 0-0; Roman 6-6, Sverha 1-4, Taves 1-0. HBP - by Roman (Siebler). WP - Roman 2.

BATH (ab-r-h-bi) - Longernecker ss 3-1-0-0, Haller lf 2-2-1-0, Daland 3b 4-0-1-1, J. Bertolotti c 3-1-1-1, Brong dh 2-1-0-0, Donnelly 2b 2-0-0-0, R. Bertolotti rf 3-0-1-1, Mitch 1b 3-0-1-1, Allman cf 2-0-0-0, Ryan 3b 0-0-0-0. Totals 24-5-5-4.

BOYERTOWN (ab-r-h-bi) -- Schwager ss 3-1-2-1, Purnell 2b 4-2-1-0, Schnell c 2-2-0-0, Kreitz rf 3-3-2-3, Werner ss 4-2-2-3, Gehringer 1b 3-3-2-2, Mills 3b 1-1-0-1, Stong dh 4-0-2-3, Ferreri lf 2-1-0-1. Totals 26-15-11-14.

Bath 100 130 0 - 5 5 5

Boyertown 010 342 5 - 15 11 1

E - R. Bertolotti 2, Longernecker; Allman, J. Bertolotti; Mills. DP - Bath; Boyertown. LOB - Bath 6; Boyertown 6. 2B - Haller; Werner 2, Purnell. CS - Stong, Schwager. S - Haller, Donnelly; Ferreri. SF - Mills, Schwager.

Sawyer, Bender (6), Daland (7) and J. Bertolotti; Hartman, Hallman (6) and Schnell. W - Hartman. L - Sawyer. SO-BB - Sawyer 7-4, Bender 1-5, Daland 0-0; Hartman 5-5, Hallman 3-1. HBP - by Sawyer (Gehringer), by Bender (Schnell, Purnell). WP - Sawyer.2, Bender; Hartman. PB - Schnell.

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