By Scott Walsh

SWALSH@SCRANTONTIMES.COM

Milestone victories are typically memorable. Keystone College baseball coach Jamie Shevchik certainly won't forget his 800th career win.

Trailing by eight runs and getting no-hit for 7.1 innings, Keystone scored 10 runs in the bottom of the eighth to rally for a 10-8 victory over Penn State-Brandywine in the opening game of the best-of-3 second-round United East Conference playoffs Friday at Christy Mathewson Field in La Plume. The Giants then took Game 2, 10-4, to sweep the series and advance to next weekend's Final Four.

The win in the opener gave Shevchik his milestone win, but for awhile it looked like it might not happen.

Nate Romberger held Keystone hitless through seven innings, and Brandywine scored four runs in the top of the eighth to open an 8-0 lead.

But in the bottom of the eighth, Romberger walked the first two batters, Dillion Bird (Westlake, La./Sulphur) and Emilio Portes (Miami, Fla./Monsignor Pace). One out later, Ray Moreta (Bergenfield, N.J./Bergenfield) singled to break up the no-hitter and shutout as Bird scored. Dante Ruby (Archbald, Pa./Valley View) was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Following a pitching change, Benny Hess (Reading, Ohio/Reading Community) was hit by a pitch to force home a run. Carlos Pascual (Paterson, N.J./International) had an RBI single and Teegan Monroney (Camden, Del./Caesar Rodney) was hit by a pitch to bring home another run. A wild pitch scored Hess and cut the deficit to 8-5.

Colson Bennett (Camden, Del./Caesar Rodney) had a two-run single to make it a one-run game. Following another single by Bird, Portes put down a bunt and reached on a throwing error that enabled Monroney and Pascual to score and give Keystone a 9-8 lead. Portes advanced to third on the play and scored on a passed ball to cap the comeback.

Brandon Valles (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) came on to pitch the top of the ninth and worked around a one-out single to nail down the win.

"I've never seen that done. Not in my career," Shevchik said. "I've never been part of a game where you are getting no-hit with five outs to go and come back from down, 8-0. So to get No. 800 in that way, that's one I'm obviously going to remember for the rest of my life. It was pretty cool."

Brandywine erased a 4-0 Keystone lead by scoring four times in the top of the fifth of the nightcap to tie the game. But the Giants reclaimed it in the bottom-half of the inning when Hess and Pascual pulled off a double steal of third and second, respectively, and Hess scored on a throwing error on the play. In the sixth, Hess had an RBI single to make it 6-4 before Keystone scored four insurance runs in the eighth on an RBI triple by Moreta, an RBI fielder's choice by Hess and a two-run double by Jonathan Santi.

Shevchik, in his 25th season, has a career record of 801-280. He gave credit to the players and coaches he has had through the years.

"I told somebody earlier in the day that nobody ever won their Kentucky Derby riding a donkey. You've gotta have the horses, and we've had the horses for a long time," Shevchik said. "What keeps me up at night are 800 losses, not the 800 wins. It's been a long career of really good players and even better coaches that makes it all easier."

Keystone (28-10), as the No. 1 seed, will host the United East double-elimination Final Four beginning Friday. It will face No. 4 Lancaster Bible College. The other matchup has No. 2 Penn State-Harrisburg against No. 3 Penn State-Abington. Play continues Saturday with the championship decided May 10.

The champ receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.

The Giants are seeking their 21st straight conference title — four in the North East Athletic Conference (2005-08), 14 in the Colonial States Athletic Conference (2009-23) and two in the United East (2024-25).

In previous seasons, Keystone could throw its bats and gloves on the field and win. This year's team is different. It is young, having graduated 22 players. Plus, the uncertainty of the college's future meant a late start to recruiting.

"We were able to scrap it together over the summer and bring in a healthy recruiting class, but we were kind of late to the party," Shevchik said. "If you told me last fall that we'd be sitting as the No. 1 seed going into the four-team championship with 28 wins, I probably would have said you were nuts. But credit to the guys."

"This year, we had to work harder. We've had to coach more and spend more time on the little detail things. Our catcher, first baseman, shortstop, third baseman, center fielder, right fielder are new, our pitching staff is new. So we had to use our fall to do more teaching. We had five freshmen on the field at one point this year, so we had to try to speed up the development process for all the guys. We're playing a different style of baseball this year. We only have 20 home runs this year and probably have more sacrifice bunts and bunts for hits than we do extra-base hits. But that's the type of team we have. The good news is the kids bought into it. We just have to throw enough strikes and we have a shot."