Perfect 10: Keller Ks 10 as Vikings Stay Undefeated

If the Vikings keep this up, the bullpen can sit back and relax until May. For the second straight game, a Schreiber pitcher went the distance, only this time it was ace Everett Keller in the Blue and White's 4-3 win over the Farmingdale Dalers at Howitt Junior High School.

Keller fanned 10 batters on an astounding 102 pitches while allowing just three hits and no earned runs. He even helped his own cause, doubling off of Farmingdale pitcher Chris Vitale in the first inning. With two outs and Keller on third, designated hitter Danny Kaminsky sent a 2-2 curveball into right-center field just past the reach of Dalers outfielder Chris Spellman, giving Schreiber an early 1-0 lead.

The future Hofstra pitcher struck out the first three batters he faced in the bottom of the first inning on nine straight strikes and was rewarded for his efforts in the top of the third when third baseman Ethan Sander crushed a 3-2 fastball down the right-field line for a triple. Sander would score on a single by shortstop David Podlofsky in the very next at-bat.

With the Vikings leading 3-1 in the bottom of the third inning, Dalers third baseman John Galanoudis stepped to the plate with runners on first and second. The right-handed slugger smashed 2-2 fastball from Keller into left-center field sending Schreiber right fielder Johnny Conetta fleeing toward the endless green grass for the bouncing ball. Galanoudis slid into third with a triple and the score tied at 3.

"That inning I was hitching my throw a bit but after that inning I talked to coach [Matt Holzer] and I fixed what I was doing wrong," Keller said.

Whatever Holzer told him must've worked because Keller did not surrender a hit for the rest of the game, and during the ensuing inning, struck out the side once again. "I was in the zone so to speak," Keller said. "I felt better about this game. My control was better and I mixed my pitches pretty well, compared to my last game [against Roslyn]."

With two outs in the top of the fifth, Vikings right fielder Robby Levinger cracked a first-pitch fastball past the Dalers' diving shortstop, Frank Lettieri, sending in second baseman Jason Desimone, who reached base on a hit-by-pitch. Levinger went 2-for-4 with an RBI on the day.

"I had a lot of confidence," Levinger said. "Plus Everett was walked to get to me so I wanted to show them that it was a mistake to do that."

The Vikings (2-0 Conference AA-II, 4-0 overall) will next take the field at MCU Park, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones, on Saturday, April 10, at 3 p.m when they battle Manhasset in a non-league contest.