AURORA, N.Y. — The Keuka College Baseball team ended their 2019 season in the North Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament, losing to Penn St.-Berks 4-2 at Wells College on Saturday.
Keuka College finished with a 25-16 record, the most wins in a single season in program history. Junior K.C. Howe (Mount Morris, N.Y. / Mount Morris) pitched into the eighth inning for the Wolves, allowing just two runs and striking out five.
#3 Penn St.-Berks 4 vs. #1 Keuka College 2 – NEAC Tournament
The Nittany Lions took advantage of a leadoff walk and a pair of doubles in the second inning to jump out to a 2-0 advantage over the Wolves.
Penn St.-Berks would hold the 2-0 lead into the bottom of the single. With two outs, Brooks Vertoske (Horseheads, N.Y. / Horseheads), Tyler Freedman (Rochester, N.Y. / Aquinas Institute), and Dan Bamann (Rochester, N.Y. / Irondequoit) had three straight singles. Bamann's hit scored Vertoske to make it a 2-1 game.
After a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the seventh, the Wolves went back to work in the bottom of the inning. Anthony Brown (Schenectady, N.Y. / Schenectady) was hit by the pitch and Tyler Krowiak (Endwell, N.Y. / Seton Catholic) followed with a single for the Wolves. After a groundout advanced the Brown to third, Anthony Mashewske (Newark, N.Y. / Newark) delivered with an RBI single to left to tie the game at 2-2.
In the eighth, Penn St.-Berks got a one-out triple to deep centerfield, but Keuka College was able to strand the runner there as the game remained tied.
A leadoff walk would hurt the Wolves as back-to-back hits by Penn St.-Berks with two outs in the ninth would give the Nittany Lions a 4-2 advantage.
In the bottom of the ninth for Keuka, a walk by Anthony Brown brought the tying run to the plate with one out. However, Penn St.-Berks got a game-ending double play to seal the 4-2 postseason victory.
KC Notes:
- Keuka College falls to 0-5 against Penn St.-Berks in the NEAC Tournament and 15-17 all-time
- K.C. Howe passed teammate Daniel Steve (Cortland, N.Y. / Cortland) for the single-season strikeout record at Keuka College with 53
- Brooks Vertoske finished with one hit in the game. He ended the season with 51, tying for second-most in program history
- Ryan Seales (Saratoga Springs, N.Y. / Saratoga Springs) stole second as the Wolves set a new program record with 48 stolen bases as a team this season
- Dan Bamann was behind the plate for the Wolves and threw out three Berks runners attempting to steal second base