Giants Keep Rolling With 13-6 Victory Over Griffins

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La Plume, PA – Keystone College kept rolling on Friday afternoon with a 13-6 victory over visiting Gwynedd Mercy University in a Colonial States Athletic Conference game at Christy Mathewson Field.  The Giants, who have now won nine consecutive games, improve to 27-11 on the spring and 11-5 in conference play by winning for the 12th time in their last 13 contests.
 
Keystone took a 2-0 lead the bottom of the first inning on Friday as Gaston Rojas (Carmel, NY/Carmel) came home on a fielding error on a ball hit by Kevin Luciano (Everett, MA/Cambridge Rindge and Latin School) before Louis Reyes (Port St. Lucie, FL/Treasure Coast) followed with an RBI single to right field.  Gwynedd Mercy (8-19, 7-9 CSAC) scored a pair of runs in the top of the third inning to level the contest at two-apiece, but Luciano hit a two-run home run to left-center in the home half of the frame to give the Giants a 4-2 edge.
 
The hosts extended their lead to 7-2 with three unearned runs in the fourth inning, but the Griffins got two runs back in the top of the fifth inning to make it a 7-4 ballgame.  Keystone answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth to push their lead to 9-4 on RBI base hits from Anthony Muccio (Tarrytown, NY/Archbishop Stepinac) and Julian Lanfranco (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian).  The Giants scored their 10th run of the game in the home sixth as Nate Ross (Albuquerque, NM/La Cueva) drove in Alex Herceg (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) with a sacrifice fly.
 
Gwynedd Mercy got a run back in the top of the seventh on an RBI single, but Keystone used a three-run seventh to open up a 13-5 lead.  Lanfranco hit an RBI single before coming around to score on an error by the Griffins before Luciano doubled to the alley in left-center to bring home Rojas.  The visitors capped the scoring as a run came home on a double play in the top of the eighth inning.
 
Keystone starting pitcher Darren Lauer (New Hope, PA/Council Rock North) improved to 5-3 on the season after seven solid innings as he surrendered five runs on 11 hits while striking out three batters.  Jake Granteed (West Pittston, PA/Wyoming Area) allowed one run on two hits while picking up a strikeout in the eighth inning before turning the ball over to Hector Vargas (Queens, NY/Forest Hills), who worked a scoreless ninth inning with a pair of punch-outs.
 
Luciano finished the game with two hits and four RBIs while Lanfranco and Reyes collect three hits apiece for the Giants, who held a 14-13 edge in hits for the game.
 
Gwynedd Mercy starter Mike Di Ianni (0-5) suffered the loss after allowing nine runs – just two of which were earned – in 4.1 innings of work while picking up five strikeouts.  Matt McCarney yielded four runs on three hits in the final 2.2 innings for the Griffins, who were paced offensively by Austin Heimbach and Christian Carmolingo who both collected three hits on the day.
 
Keystone and Gwynedd Mercy will close out their regular season series on Saturday with a doubleheader at Gwynedd Mercy.  First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. in Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania.