Greensburg Central Catholic’s baseball playoff game was given a noon start Wednesday to accommodate the school’s graduation later in the day.
Several Centurions will try to add championship rings to their class rings.
Senior pitcher Alec Martin repeatedly worked out of trouble and showed command in his first playoff start, and senior catcher Anthony Grippo delivered a go-ahead RBI double in the fifth inning to power unbeaten No. 2 seed GCC to a 2-1 win over No. 3 and defending Serra Catholic in a tight WPIAL Class A semifinal in light rain at Norwin.
“That was gritty,” GCC coach John Boyle said. “That was the best pitching performance we have seen from Alec in the past four years. He’s been working to get better every year. He’s picked up his pace, he’s throwing more strikes and changing speeds. It shows his maturity.”
GCC (17-0) advances to the finals for the first time since 2017 to face either No. 1 Eden Christian (14-4) or No. 4 Western Beaver (12-3) at a time to be announced next Tuesday or Wednesday at EQT Park in Washington.
Serra Catholic (13-7), in the semifinals for the 11th straight time, will look to rebound in the PIAA playoffs, which begin June 1.
Martin, locked in a pitchers’ duel with Eagles junior right-hander Jake Jellison, allowed four hits, struck out nine and walked two for the Centurions, who will look to cap their first undefeated regular season and section title with a championship.
The left-handed Martin threw 110 pitches.
“I knew today I needed to be dialed in,” said Martin, a Fairmont State commit. “In the first inning, I was trying to keep everything low. I had to power through the last innings. In the fourth and fifth, I let the defense eat.”
Junior Stephen Kochis came on to pitch the final 1 2/3 innings, striking out the side in the seventh to earn a save.
“When Steve looks in the mirror, he sees a lion,” Boyle said. “No moment or challenge is too big for him.”
GCC only had three hits, the other two coming in the same inning as Martin had an RBI single to follow freshman Carson Kramer’s leadoff double to tie it 1-1.
Serra Catholic scored in the top of the second on a GCC miscue. After junior Jake Anderson doubled and sophomore Liam Sommerer singled, Martin’s pickoff throw to first went awry and Anderson scored from third.
“Alec made up for (the error) with his hit,” Boyle said.
Two walks had Serra in business in the third, but Martin quickly recoiled to strike out Jellison and sophomore Cole Hahn and got Anderson to pop up to squash the threat.
The Eagles’ top four hitters were a combined 0 for 14 with eight strikeouts.
Serra Catholic did its best to score again in the fourth after a leadoff single by Sommerer, who went 3 for 3.
Sommerer moved to second on a sacrifice bunt before sophomore Matt Dukovich was hit by a pitch and senior DJ Deliman walked to load the bases.
But Martin found his groove again, escaping after he struck out senior Max Black and freshman Kaleb Bynum.
“He just kept working through it,” Boyle said. “Serra is a very well-coached team, and they have a great program. They are always a tough team to play.”
Jellison also worked out of his share of jams, including in the fourth when he walked Kramer to start the inning. Two batters later, he intentionally walked Martin but induced a flyout and a groundout to deny the Centurions.
But he wasn’t as fortunate in the GCC fifth.
Grippo, a Penn State commit, sent a 3-2 pitch to the gap in left-center to knock in senior Nolan Sopko, who led off with a walk.
“I just kept my sights to the middle (of the field),” Grippo said.
Jellison struck out eight and walked four in the three-hit loss.
Sommerer singled in the top of the sixth just before Martin left the game because of his pitch count.
Kochis moved from second to the mound and, after a brief warmup, proceeded to strike out Dukovich and walk freshman No. 9 hitter Noah Ramsey before getting leadoff hitter Black to fly out.
Serra came to bat with one last chance in the seventh, but Kochis made quick work of the Eagles, striking out Bynum, Jellison and Hann — Nos. 2 though 4 in the order.
Serra Catholic edged GCC, 3-2, in last year’s semifinals.
“We had a chance last year,” Martin said. “We had to reload to get back here. Every position was filled.”