Greensburg Central Catholic overcomes Eden Christian rally for quarterfinal win
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Monday, May 21, 2018 | 10:54 PM
Greensburg Central Catholic didn't panic after Eden Christian Academy rallied to tie the score in the top of the sixth inning.
The Centurions turned to their running game to pull out a thrilling 9-7 victory in the WPIAL Class A quarterfinals on Monday at Fox Chapel. GCC faces Union, which defeated Monessen, 7-6, at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Fox Chapel.
No. 3 seed Greensburg Central Catholic scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning by swiping four bases. The Centurions stole 10 bases during the game.
“Its playoff baseball,” GCC coach Dennis Reist said. “One of our mottos is ‘Find a way, not an excuse,' and these kids are finding away and they keep fighting.”
In the sixth, James Rice singled and got to third on two stolen bases. He scored on a double by Bryce Kurpiel, who stole third and scored on Antonio Cavallo's groundout. Cavallo finished with three RBIs.
Greensburg Central Catholic was cruising. It took a 3-0 lead in the first inning and led 6-1 after three innings to back pitcher Bruce Leonard.
Tommy Voelker had a RBI double in the first inning, and Cavallo followed with a two-run double.
Voelker added a second RBI in the second inning, and Danny Erdely added an RBI single in the fifth inning to make it 7-3.
But Eden scored two unearned runs in the fifth inning and chased Leonard in the sixth inning by scoring four times to tie the score at 7-7.
“With good hitters, you can't keep them down forever,” Leonard said. “This is what we've been working on all year. We expect to win. It was just another game. It was teamwork that was the reason we won.”
Eden Christian seemed to have all the momentum and had relief pitcher Ethan Bailey on the ropes. But Bailey got the final out of the sixth inning and then kept Eden Christian from scoring the seventh.
“This was a team effort,” Reist said. “Everyone battled. Tommy Voelker had a key hit in the first inning to get us going. Antonio had a big double, and Zach Kuvinka had a big steal of home.
“We had big plays all game. It was a lot a little different things. Everyone did something to contribute today.”
Paul Schofield is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at pschofield@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Schofield_Trib.
Tags: Eden Christian, Greensburg C.C.
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