Trumbull Advances To Semifinals of Babe Ruth World Series

Trumbull has picked precisely the right time to be playing its best baseball of the Babe Ruth 13-15 World Series.

Behind another stellar effort from Colin Keyes, the New England Regional champions downed Harris Township of Indiana 6-3 Thursday night in Jamestown, N.Y., to advance to the tournament semifinals.

That game is scheduled for 7:35 p.m. on Friday against Tri-Township, Pa., which defeated Trumbull, 8-1, in the first game of the tournament last Saturday.

On Thursday, Keyes tossed a four-hitter, struck out six and walked four in a complete-game effort. He also helped his own cause with a hit, a run scored and a run driven in.

For the series, Keyes is hitting a robust .529 and he's evened his pitching record at 1-1 with a 2.86 ERA. On Wednesday, he tied a tournament record with five hits in a 15-6 victory over Centralia, Wash.

Keyes received run support immediately as Jeff Sam smacked a two-run double in the top of the first inning and came around to score on a wild pitch by losing pitcher Joe DeGeeter.

The Ohio Valley Regional champs cut into the deficit with a run in the second on DeGeeter's run-scoring double, but Willy Velez pushed Trumbull's lead back to three with a sacrifice fly in the top of the third.

A two-run single by Tyler Perry brought Harris Township to within 4-3 after three innings.

But Matt VonSchleusingen's RBI groundout in the fourth and Keyes' bases-loaded walk in the sixth gave Trumbull enough cushion to advance to Friday's semifinal.

Vince Ciambriello had two hits, Ryan Fritz had a double and Stan Wolpiuk a triple for Trumbull.