Baseball: Brendan Hagerman, Keystone shut down Lorain

LAGRANGE — In a Saturday morning non-conference matchup between Keystone and Lorain, Wildcats junior Brenden Hagerman stole the show with a complete game gem. The right-hander, in his first career varsity pitching appearance, allowed only an earned run on three hits and three walks while striking out six to help his team to a 3-1 victory. "I just try to throw strikes, that's all I can do," Hagerman said. "I have a good field behind me, just try not to do too much." Hagerman faced 28 batters, throwing 93 pitches, 58 for strikes. In what was a pitcher's duel, Lorain took the first lead when junior Jonathan Martinez drove in junior Breycin Jackson in the top of the third. Keystone tied the game at 1 in the fourth, as junior Wyatt McKee drove home junior Blake Moore with a sacrifice fly. The Wildcats took a 2-1 lead, as junior catcher Kyle Hurley dropped in an RBI double on a ball that should have been caught, scoring shortstop Ryan Younglas. McKee manufactured an insurance run for the Wildcats by himself in the sixth, as the center fielder doubled, stole third and came home on a throwing error by Lorain's catcher. There were only seven combined hits, as the Wildcats notched four. Moore and McKee had hits, and Hurley had two for the only multihit effort for either team. "We were at Norway really smacking the ball around, and after a rainout, the hits have been hard to come by," said Keystone coach Bert Fitzgerald. "The guys are swinging it well, we are just hitting it at guys. The hits will come, it's just a matter of time." Ezekiel Melendez Dieppa, Martinez and Jackson had Lorain's hits. "We try not to hang our heads, we gave it our all. If a couple things went a little differently, it would've been a different ballgame," Lorain coach Brad Ternes said. "We just have to keep learning. We are a young team and we have to keep putting our best game out there, try to clean it up a little bit moving forward." Junior Ethan Leyva started on the hill for the Titans, allowing three earned runs, four hits and three walks while striking out six over six innings. "He did pretty well. He had a rough outing earlier in the week, so he came out today and he battled. He kept us in the game versus a good team," said Ternes. "I am proud of the way he performed." Even with a lower score, five errors were committed, three by Lorain. "Walks and errors will kill us, that is what we preach," said Fitzgerald. "For the most part, we played clean today." Lorain fell to 1-5 and will travel to Brunswick on Monday. The win boosts Keystone to 2-3. It travels to Oberlin on Monday.