BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Andrew Wilson hit a walk-off single to give the Keystone Heights High School baseball team an 8-7 win over visiting Palatka on March 7.
With the score tied at 7-7, Ethan Franklin led off the bottom of the seventh with a double. By the time Wilson stepped to the plate, the Indians were down to their final out. Wilson worked the count full before getting the hit that scored Franklin and ended the game.
Keystone (9-3) avoided losing its second straight game.
The Indians got an RBI single from Austin Smith as part of a three-run first, while Aiden Screen and Tyler Brinson each drove in a run as part of a three-run second that gave Keystone a 6-5 lead.
Gauge Barry hit an RBI double in the fourth that made it 7-5 in favor of the Indians.
Smith and Wilson finished 3 for 3 and 3 for 5, respectively, with each hitting a double and driving in a run.
Barry went 2 for 3 with a double and two RBI, while Destin Harnage was 2 for 5 with a triple.
Brinson and Screen each had one RBI, while Franklin hit a double.
On the mound, Brinson earned the win, giving up two runs and four hits through the final four innings. He had four strikeouts.
It was a 2-1 week for Keystone, with the first win coming by a score of 14-2 over visiting Baker County in five innings on March 4.
Wilson had a big night, going 3 for 4 and driving in seven runs. Four of those runs came on a fourth-inning grand slam.
A five-run second inning included a two-run single by Wilson, while Franklin drove in a run on a single.
Wilson hit another two-run single as part of a five-run third that put the Indians up 10-0. The inning also included run-scoring singles by Harnage and Smith.
Keystone had the bases loaded in the fourth, with Brinson hitting a double and Barry and Franklin both walking. With two outs, Wilson drove the first pitch he saw over the fence in left, making it a 14-0 game.
Brinson and Harnage each went 2 for 3, with Harnage driving in one run.
Screen went 2 for 4, while Franklin and Smith each had one RBI.
Starting pitcher Ty Mitzel allowed no runs and one hit, while striking out five through four innings.
Harnage finished it off on the mound, with two strikeouts in his one inning of work.
On March 5, the Indians lost 3-2 to host West Nassau when the Warriors’ Colin Marchant hit an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth.
Keystone fell behind 2-0 before Franklin, who reached on an error, scored on a Harnage ground out in the third.
The Indians tied it in the fourth. Screen and Smith hit back-to-back doubles, with Screen scoring on Smith’s hit.
Keystone had only one baserunner in the final four innings. Barry hit a two-out double in the seventh, but a fly out left him stranded.
West Nassau’s Nate Burnsed drew a one-out walk in the eighth. Courtesy runner Owen Layfield stole second before scoring on Marchant’s hit.
The Indians travel to play Oakleaf on Monday, March 10, at 7 p.m. and will host Santa Fe on Wednesday, March 12, at 6:30 p.m. Keystone travels to play Orange Park on Friday, March 14, at 7 p.m. and then travels to play Paxon on Monday, March 17, at 6 p.m.
