McGraw’s no-hitter guides Central Catholic past Butler, into WPIAL semifinals

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, May 22, 2018 | 10:39 PM

Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civilian functions of government, especially in response to a temporary emergency such as invasion or major disaster.

Marshall law was in full force Tuesday at the Boyce-Mayview Complex in Upper St. Clair. That law goes into effect when Central Catholic senior Marshall McGraw pitches, limiting the opposition to very little offense, or in the case of Butler in this WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinal game, holding them to no offense.

McGraw threw a no-hitter with plenty of help from his Vikings defense in a 6-0 whitewash of the Golden Tornado.

“I look like a genius, don't I?” Central Catholic coach Pat Walsh said. “When I can throw Marshall McGraw out there with some of those great defenders in the lineup…”

Butler had chances with two runners on base in the first, fifth and sixth innings in part because of four walks and three hit-batters. But not only could the Golden Tornado not come up with a big hit, they couldn't even get a hit.

Defense was a big part of the McGraw gem with three above-average plays made by third baseman Austin Vigliotti and a pair of web gems by both right fielder Brandon Boyce and second baseman Ejiro Ogagan.

“To be honest with you, as much as I would like to claim this no-hitter as mine, this was a total team effort,” McGraw said. “I came out and was wild while trying to figure out the mound. I had a stellar defense behind me that kept bailing me out. Just all-around, it was a fantastic defensive effort.”

With checks in the pitching and defense column, the Central Catholic offense took care of business early.

Andrew Walker went the opposite way with a home run over the left-field fence in the first inning to put the Vikings ahead 1-0.

A two-out RBI triple by Vigliotti sent home Boyce, who had doubled to increase the lead to 2-0 in the second.

The Vikings put the game away and chased Butler starter Grant Metzger in the third.

Vincenzo Rauso singled and back-to-back walks to Walker and Brandon Gelpi loaded the bases and prompted a pitching change to Conner Ollio.

Max Cebulak greeted Ollio with an RBI single to left to make it 3-0. Than after back-to-back strikeouts, Ogagan lifted the first pitch he saw to left field. The ball kept carrying and hit off the glove of Jacob Slomers and bounced off the base of the fence. All three runs scored before Ogagan was thrown out trying to stretch his double into a triple.

Central Catholic would not get another hit, but didn't need any leading 6-0.

Butler (12-7) stranded seven base runners, a high number considering it had no hits.

“I would say Marshall was effectively wild,” Walsh said.

The win was the first postseason triumph for Central Catholic (15-4) since a WPIAL championship winning game in 2015, a 2-0 shutout of Norwin.

The Vikings will face Canon-McMillan in the Class 6A semifinals at 4 p.m. Wednesday back at the Boyce-Mayview Complex in Upper St. Clair.

Don Rebel is a TribLive High School Sports Network broadcaster and staff writer. Reach him at drebel@tribweb.com.

Tags: Butler, Central Catholic