Indians baseball silently with one loss

By Randy Lefko Sports Editor

Posted 12/31/69

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Indians baseball silently with one loss

Posted Thursday, March 28, 2024 12:05 pm

By Randy Lefko Sports Editor

KEYSTONE HEIGHTS - With a season-opening loss to Clay, 7-3, their only blemish in 2024, Keystone Heights High's baseball team has stealthily earned nine wins in a row behind an opportunistic batting lineup with just a .237 batting average and strong pitching with four hurlers hovering just near a 2.0 earned runs average with, surprisingly, not a lot of strikeouts.

On the mound, the trio of Ty Mitzel, Austin Musgrove and Gage Barry have held nominal strikeout recordings of 22, 26 and 17 Ks for Keystone Heights' 81 total whiffs.
Ironically, the pitching has been fortified by a stellar defense behind the mound with just Musgrove going double-digit strikeouts in a game; 12 in a 2-0 win over Baker County, Mitzel with nine in an 11-4 win over Interlachen and Barry with five in 9-3 win over Palatka.
In the batter's box, Keystone Heights is surprisingly lethal when on base, but more overwhelming with flurries rather than big bats.
Keystone Heights coach Chris Roach has just Alex Addington near a .300 batting average (.286) with five batters in the consistency range of .219 to .286 batting averages with the team accumulating 58 hits off 41 singles, 11 doubles, four triples and two homers and scoring 65 runs from the basepaths. The Indians are mobile once on base with 32 stolen bases at a perfect rate of risk/reward with Connor Guy snaring 10 bases and Musgrove with six.
The Indians do score in flurries with six in inning two of 8-0 win over Williston; three in the fourth in a 5-2 win over Yulee; six in the first inning of an 11-4 win over Interlachen, three in the second inning in a 4-2 win over North Marion and nine runs in third and fourth innings in 10-3 win over Santa Fe.
Keystone Heights has Williston, Orange Park and Palatka to finish March with an April 4 game at 6A-Buchholz (7-3, third ranked 6A) a strong momentum test for districts.
In their district 4-3A lineup, Keystone Heights (16th in 3A) has yet to play P.K. Yonge (7-1, 24th in 3A), Father Lopez (8-6, 55th in 3A) and Trinity Catholic (6-6, 28th in 3A) as top contenders for the district title.