Walk-off infield single carries Canon-McMillan baseball past Plum

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, May 22, 2018 | 8:54 PM

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The way Plum and Canon-McMillan were playing, some form of small ball seemed likely to decide their WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinal game.

And the game ended, fittingly enough, on a ball that didn’t leave the infield.

Connor Flaherty’s one-out, bases-loaded infield single drove in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning, giving No. 4 Canon-McMillan a 2-1 walk-off victory over No. 5 Plum on Tuesday at North Allegheny.

The chopper to the right side of the second base bag made its way through the drawn-in infield, allowing Nick Serafino to sprint home with the winning run and leading to a Canon-McMillan team mob at first base.

“(I thought) Nicky Serafino’s one of our fastest guys, and he’s going to score — I just couldn’t tell right off the bat,” Canon McMillan coach Tim Bruzdewicz said. “I’m one of those Debbie Downer type of coaches. I want to see it cross the plate, and then I’ll start yelling.”

The play ended a nearly seven-inning stalemate of strong pitching and good defense between the Big Macs and Plum.

Zach Rohaley pitched a complete-game gem for Canon-McMillan after working out of some early trouble, and Plum got a Herculean relief effort from Gino Marra, who replaced injured starter Ryan Kircher in the third inning.

“They did more offensively than we did by one run,” Plum coach Carl Vollmer said. “There’s not much to it — a ground ball, he beat it into the ground to end the game. He just saw a hole, found a hole.

” … It was a very well-played baseball game. I just felt bad for our guys. I feel we’re a good enough team to compete with anybody.”

Canon-McMillan advanced to the WPIAL semifinals for the third consecutive season, where the Big Macs are scheduled to play top-seeded Central Catholic at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Upper St. Clair.

The Big Macs (15-5) are making a habit of winning nip-and-tuck games in these playoffs after edging Norwin, 1-0, in the first round. Plum was coming off its own tight first-round victory, 3-1 over Mt. Lebanon.

“The team’s just sticking together,” said Rohaley, who allowed one run on five hits, walking two and striking out seven. “We believe in each other. We’re getting that timely hitting. Connor Flaherty came up huge today, and I just went out there and tried to keep Plum off-balance.”

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Plum (16-5) struck for a run in the top of the first inning, loading the bases with one out on a pair of singles, a walk and a fielder’s choice before Evan Sante drove in a run with an infield single to third base. But in a preview for what was to come, Rohaley worked out of the jam with two strikeouts.

Canon-McMillan tied it in the bottom of the first when Ian Hess lined a double to left field with one out, scoring Cam Walker.

That proved to be it for scoring until the seventh. Plum stranded a pair of runners in both the second and third innings before Rohaley fully got into his groove. Leaning on his off-speed pitches, the senior right-hander limited Plum to one baserunner over the final four innings.

“He was on cruise control, throwing his game,” Bruzdewicz said. “Four pitches, anywhere in the count, at any time. That’s what he does. He’s the best. There ain’t nobody better.”

Marra was just as effective out of Plum’s bullpen. Kircher, the Mustangs’ ace, left with one out in the top of the third because he felt discomfort in his lat muscle, Vollmer said. Marra entered and induced an inning-ending double play on his first batter, then blanked Canon-McMillan over the next three innings, allowing just one baserunner.

“I can’t say enough about what Gino Marra did coming in the game,” Vollmer said. “He basically (shut down) one of the better offenses in the WPIAL. I really believe that. That’s a very good baseball team.”

Serafino reached on an infield single with one out in the seventh, moved to second on Brandon Rea’s infield single to short and to third on a throwing error. Plum walked Rohaley intentionally to load the bases, setting up Flaherty.

“Serafino goes up there and leads us off with a hit, and after that, everyone just started going crazy in our dugout,” Rohaley said. “We were loud in there. It was loud, and we all believed in each other. That’s what this team’s all about.”

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.

Tags: Canon-McMillan, Plum