Gelwick, Wolfe give Keswick Christian edge in Crusaders clash

Lily Belcher
Correspondent

March 5, 2022

SEFFNER – Keswick Christian claimed its fifth-consecutive win Saturday afternoon in a 4-1 victory over the Seffner Christian in a clash of two Crusaders squads.

The game started off in a pitchers’ duel with both sides remaining scoreless through the first three innings, despite getting runners aboard.

It was the SCA Crusaders (3-2-1) who got the first run, on an RBI base hit from Shay Dean scoring Corbin Newman from third base.

“We had a good approach in that one inning where we had good approaches executed, but…we have to focus on [hitting],” said Dean.

Senior Joseph Tomasello led SCA on the mound, giving up only four hits over his 4 1/3 innings start. The Montreat College commit gave up a walk followed by a base hit in the top of the fifth that put two Keswick batters on the base path for Jett Wolfe’s RBI double.

Keswick Christian’s Jett Wolfe tries to avoid the tag at the plate from Seffner Christian’s Adrian Vo. Wolfe was 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored in the win (photo by Lily Belcher).

Reliever Austin Trimble took the mound, inheriting two runners and loaded the bases after hitting Keswick’s Blake Albritton. An RBI double to Kameron Gelwick gave his team the lead for good in the fifth.

“At the beginning of the game, I’m not going to lie, we didn’t have that much energy,” admitted Gelwick. “We switched it up once the fourth inning hit. We knew we were down 1-0. We knew we had to change something, and we got loud in the dugout, our bats were much better, and that’s what really changed the game.”

Seffner Christian senior P Joe Tomasello (photo by Lily Belcher).

Seffner Christian tried to match Keswick newfound energy and tie the game back up, but Dearl Edens struck out Seffner’s next three batters.

Keswick Christian (5-1) catcher Jacob Levesque scored another run off a single, followed by two stolen bases, and a wild pitch, which setup Gelwick for another RBI single giving the visiting Crusaders the definitive edge in Saturday’s matinee game.

Edens, who pitched a complete game, struck out eight and gave up only one run on six hits. Seffner Christian was taking advantage Edens fastball, so he focused on throwing more off-speed pitches, which effectively quieted his opponent’s bats.

Keswick Christian senior Kameron Gelwick went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI singles in the win (photo by Lily Belcher).

“It’s way easier when runs are on the scoreboard,” said the Mars Hill University committed Edens. “I go out there and feel more comfortable on the mound.”

Seffner Christian will face Cambridge Christian on the road at Skyway Park on Friday at 7, with hopes to pick up their fourth victory of the season. Keswick Christian will host the Tarpon Springs Spongers on Tuesday at 4:30 and attempt to extend their win streak.

Keswick Christian 4
Seffner Christian 1

KC  000|021|1 – |4|8|1
SC  000|100|0 – |1|7|1
W – Edens (1-0); L – Tomasello (1-1)
2B – Wolfe (KC). Records – KC (5-1); SC (3-2-1).