On Thursday night at Santa Fe, the Indians used that formula as they played errorless ball and senior Austin Musgrove pitched a gem to lead his team to a 2-1 win and spoil senior night for the Raiders.
Santa Fe honored seniors Cooper Ruppert, Logan Summers, Tony Myers and Dylan Lovelace before the game.
The two teams only combined for eight hits in the game. But Keystone Heights came up with the biggest hit of the game, a two-out RBI single by junior Austin Smith in the top of the sixth to put the Indians on top for good.
“The four hole there (Smith) came in clutch with another two-out hit,” Keystone Heights coach Chris Roach said. “He’s done that quite a few times this year and it’s good to respond to something that didn’t go well the inning before.”
Keystone Heights got on the board first in the top of the second inning by scoring a run without a hit. Santa Fe starting pitcher Caleb Keitzman (4-1) hit Smith with a pitch to lead off the inning and then walked junior Austin Screen. After a force out put runners at first and third with one out, junior catcher Tallon Campbell brought home Smith with a groundout for a 1-0 Keystone lead.
Santa Fe (9-12) was quiet until the fifth inning when they picked up three of their four hits in the game to tie it up.
Evan Christmas led off with a single, then Summers singled with one out. After a strikeout, Jackson McDavid followed with a single through the box to even the game at 1-1.
Musgrove (5-2) worked out of a bases-loaded jam to keep the game tied.
“We like to say with his (Musgrove’s) numbers that he’s our number one starter,” Roach said. “He leads us a senior, and he did the same thing last year for us. He’s going to play collegiately so he’s got a real good fight in him and is tough to beat on the mound.”
But Keystone followed with the run in the sixth to go ahead for good. Senior Kenneth Guy singled with one out and went to second on a wild pitch. With two outs Smith delivered the single to right field to put the Indians ahead for good. Musgrove allowed only four hits in six and two third innings with six strikeouts, and senior Ty Mitzel came in to get the final out for his first save.
