PA is truly the Keystone state

I am pretty sure everybody I know in central Pennsylvania was listening or watching the Keystone game on Friday afternoon.

Standing in the press box at the Giamatti Little League complex, watching as Cole Reeder clicked off pitch after pitch, I knew the excitement must have been building bacv in Clinton County. Heck, it was building here in Bristol as the cheers from the stands got louder and louder, and the realization that our local boys could be only one win away from a trip to the LLWS was becoming a big possibility.

One thing I have to mention is how much these Keystone kids have made an impression on the folks up here. A lot of people we've talked with have nothing but good things to say about the boys and coaches, how polite and well-mannered they are. They clean up after themselves, they don't talk back and they listen when they are told something. Unfortunately, that can't be said for a few teams that stayed in the dorms up here, who took it upon themselves to make their room as messy as they could and leave it trashed before they left yesterday.

Yeah, not real classy.

But Keystone has class, and as assistant coach Chip Miller has said... they are a bunch of country boys who like to go out and kick butt.

Well, they've certainly done that.

The team's Facebook page has tripled in fan support, and people from all over the state have been posting their support for the kids. State College, Erie, Harrisburg, Lewisburg, Pittsburgh... you name the place, and there's been a post from there. People are biting their fingernails off, fixing adults beverages, yelling at their TVs...

Everyone is ecstatic that Keystone is a win away from heading home and gettin to play in Williamsport. But not for a district championship this time.... this time, it's for all the marbles of a Little League World Series title.

Keep it up, boys.