Keller, Holt power Providence baseball past Glendale
Providence High’s Sean Holt delivers a pitch in the first inning against Glendale in a non-league baseball game at Ralph Foy Park in Burbank on Wednesday, March 2, 2016.
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Burbank — In three previous seasons, Thomas Keller and Sean Holt have proved to be a formidable one-two punch for the Providence High baseball team.
Being seniors, the two players couldn’t wait to get the season started to show what they can do in their final campaigns with the Pioneers.
That chance came Wednesday evening when Providence opened its season with a nonleague game against Glendale, which was in the midst of a tough week with five games in seven days.
The two Pioneers got off to a grand opening, as Holt tossed a three-hit shutout and Keller had three hits in three plate appearances, including a home run, to lead Providence to a 5-0 victory against the Nitros at Foy Park.
“Glendale was probably the biggest team that we’ve ever opened up against, school-wise, so it’s nice to know we can compete against a team from the Pacific League,” Keller said. “I felt pretty good today, I saw the ball well and I stuck to my approach, which I think helped me.”
Batting leadoff, Keller went three for three with a double, a home run, one run batted in, three runs scored and two stolen bases. His home run was a solo shot to left field in the fifth inning that gave the Pioneers a 5-0 lead against Glendale (1-2).
“That’s a good little team there for Providence,” Glendale Coach Alan Eberhart said. “That leadoff hitter, wow. They had a second baseman that made a lot of good plays and that pitcher threw hard. That is a good, well-coached team and they did everything right to win that game.
“We just didn’t hit the ball. Even if we played great tonight we still lose, 1-0. But looking back on it, we did a lot of good things for our third game and we have to be able to take away that.”
Holt was in command for most of the game. After giving up a leadoff single to Keyvan Duran to start the game, the right-hander buckled down and allowed just one ball to leave the infield over the course of the next five innings. Nitros Bryce Wong and David Piedra were able to touch up Keller for singles in the seventh.
In a 95-pitch effort in which Holt called all of his own pitches, he struck out nine and walked one.
“I was just trying to throw strikes and trying to keep the ball down and mix it up,” Holt said. “Since I’m calling my own pitches, now I was just shaking off some pitches and throwing what I thought was best. I felt pretty good and my fastball was working for me.
“We got an early lead and that helped me relax a little bit.”
Providence jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Keller started the rally with a single to left field and Alec Saavedra (one for three with a walk and two runs) was able to reach on an infield error. After Keller stole third and Saavedra swiped second, Holt went with a pitch and poked an opposite-field single to right to plate two runs.
Keller got things started again for the Pioneers in the third inning, doubling to left-center field. Saavedra followed with a walk and both scored on a one-out single to left by Stephen Knezevich.
“It was finally nice to get on the field, play someone and do it for real,” Providence Coach Steven Knez said. “These kids have been working pretty hard in preparation for the season and it was nice to see their effort tonight.
“It’s also nice to kind of send a message that we can beat a team from a bigger league like the Pacific League. That’s kind of a big deal for us.”
The Nitros had runners on first and second in the final inning with two outs, but Holt induced a fly to center field to end the game.
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Jeff Tully, jeff.tully@latimes.com
Twitter: @jefftsports
