Roberto Santana's ninth-inning single sealed the deal for Keystone and might have woken the Giants' bats. Photo by Larry Radloff, d3photography.com

By Pat Coleman
D3sports.com

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. – For the first time in the tournament, Keystone came up with the big hit it needed, and it was enough to keep the Giants alive and send Salisbury back to Maryland with a 7-2 defeat.

Roberto Santana lined a single into left field in the top of the ninth, scoring Frank Mormino and Esteban Meletiche to give Keystone a 5-2 lead, and the Giants brought across two more runs on a pair of Salisbury errors to salt the game away.

Santana, who was 0-for-4 before that at-bat, drove in his 43rd and 44th run of the season and might have given the Giants the lift they were looking for.

“It felt great, especially since I was struggling the first three, four at-bats,” said the senior left fielder. He said he didn’t feel any extra pressure, though, since he was due. “Since I was 0-for-4 before that, stats-wise at least, I should get one more hit.”

“That was a great at-bat,” said Keystone coach Jamie Shevchik. “For him to fight off, I think, five or six pitches with two strikes was an unbelievable at-bat. I knew he was due.”

Keystone, which arrived in Appleton averaging a hair over eight runs per game, looked as if it were going to scratch out barely enough offense for the second time in three games.

The Giants wasted an opportunity in the seventh inning. Keystone loaded the bases with nobody out, including a bunt single by Brian Del Rosso on which pitcher Nathan Young held onto the ball instead of tossing to John Schiotis, who was coming over to cover. But Mormino, the defensive replacement at first base who entered the day hitting .109, popped to short for the first out and Meletiche’s sacrifice fly brought in the only run Keystone managed in the inning, giving the Giants a 3-2 lead.

“Our second baseman didn’t get there,” on the bunt single, said Salisbury coach Doug Fleetwood. “And we knew it was coming, everyone knew it was coming. We had the rotation set, we just didn’t get there. I think he was wise to hold it because I think we were so late getting there, and you’ve got guys on all the bases running and stuff, the first thing that ball hits somebody and bounces off and you’ve got big plays.

“If you make that play there, the fly ball he hits to center field, there’s no tag situation. Against good, quality teams you just can’t do that.”

Andrew Siano reached on an error to reload the bases but Santana ended up flying to center, helping Salisbury escape further damage.

Mormino came in as a defensive replacement after the fourth inning, by which time starting first baseman Fernando Perez had committed his second error of the game. Perez has only been playing the position for four weeks.

“Today the tone was set early that there wasn’t going to be a lot of runs scored,” Shevchik said, “that we made a couple mistakes early and we needed to firm up our defense a little bit.”

Mormino started the ninth-inning rally with a double for just his eighth hit of the year.

“That’s his biggest hit of the season by far,” Shevchik said. “On the big stage, a double off the wall, absolutely.”

Keystone got Brian Henry to third with two outs in the eighth but couldn’t drive him in.

“We’re still waiting for that breakout game,” said Shevchik. “This team is still much better than what we’ve produced so far, and our goal right now is just stick around here as long as we can, just keep competing every inning.”

The seventh-inning run came just in time for Keystone starter Brad Higgins, who went six innings, allowing six hits and two runs in improving to 8-1.

The Giants got three innings of shutout relief, with Adam Krebs retiring all six batters he faced and closer Derek Alex finishing the game off with a hitless ninth. 

Young pitched seven innings, allowing three runs, two earned, falling to 5-2.