It had been 11 days since the Greensburg Central Catholic baseball team played a game.
The long layoff did not affect Centurions pitcher Tyler Samide, as the senior shined on the mound and at the plate.
He tossed a two-hitter, allowed an unearned run, walked two, struck out 17 and hit a three-run home run to lead the No. 2 Centurions to a 4-1 victory against Jefferson-Morgan on Monday in the WPIAL Class A quarterfinals.
The Centurions (17-0) advance to the semifinals Wednesday against No. 3 Serra Catholic, which defeated Aquinas Academy, 13-3.
It was the final game for Jefferson-Morgan coach John Curtis, who resigned after coaching the Rockets for 45 seasons.
It marked the third time the Centurions defeated the Rockets this season. The first two came March 25 and 26 to open Section 1-A section season.
Samide struck out the side in the first, third and sixth innings and two each in the second, fourth, fifth and seventh innings. He threw 107 pitches.
Only Jefferson-Morgan catcher Drew Adams, who singled, did not strike out.
The Centurions took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when senior catcher Anthony Grippo launched a 2-0 pitcher from left-hander John Woodward deep over the left-field fence.
“Anthony’s home run gave us a lift,” Greensburg Central Catholic coach John Boyle said, “and Tyler has pitched this way the entire season. He is a lot stronger than he was a year ago.
“It is tough to defeat a team three times in a season. Jefferson-Morgan is well coached, and it was playing well down the stretch.”
Samide pitched out of trouble in the second inning. Woodward walked, and Adams blooped a single to right.
Both runners moved up to second and third on a sacrifice bunt, but Samide fanned Evan Kniha and Tyler McVay to end the threat.
The Centurions’ lead stretched to 4-0 in the third inning when Nate Sopko walked and Stephen Kochis singled.
Grippo grounded into a fielder’s choice before Samide hit Woodward’s knuckleball deep over the left-field fence for a three-run home run.
“I don’t know how he hit that,” Curtis said. “It was a foot off the ground.
“We tried to work around Grippo and Samide, and for the most part we succeeded. John made two mistakes, and they cost him.”
Samide said he saw the ball trending down and caught it. It was on an 0-2 pitch.
“I saw it tumbling down,” Samide said. “He was trying to get me on the knuckleball.”
Jefferson-Morgan scored its only run in the seventh when Woodward laced a double to left-center. Courtesy runner Dayten Marion advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on Adams groundout.
“Anthony called a great game,” Samide said. “He likes to establish the fastball and attack the batters. I did he wanted.”