No. 1 in 4A goes down in quarters

Greensburg Salem stuns Blackhawk

Greensburg Salem had only two hits Monday in a WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal. One was all the Lions needed.

Greensburg Salem pulled off the biggest upset of the WPIAL playoffs when it knocked off Blackhawk, 2-1, in nine innings at Seneca Valley.

Blackhawk came into the game with a 16-1 record and the No. 1 seed in 4A.

“My phone’s been blowing up,” Greensburg Salem coach Bill Wisniewski said a few hours after the game. “This is definitely the biggest win we’ve had in my 15 years [as a head coach and assistant].”

Mike Turconi started for Blackhawk and was terrific, giving up only one hit through eight innings. With one out in the top of the ninth, Turconi walked Dajauhn Hertzog and was replaced by Andy McClymonds because Turconi had reached the limit of 100 pitches. Hertzog stole second and scored on Johnny Borbonus’ single.

Matt Wicker pitched 61⁄ innings for Greensburg Salem (13-5), the No. 8 seed, and Andrew Rosenburg 22⁄ Blackhawk had only four hits, but Wicker walked five.

“We flirted with trouble throughout the game, but were able to work out of it,” Wisniewski said. “But that’s baseball sometimes. You get a guy in scoring position, someone comes through and that’s it.”

More Class 4A

Hopewell 8, Knoch 6: Hopewell (13-9) banged 12 hits and defeated No. 2-seeded Knoch (14-4) at Hampton. Tyler Sabo and Josh Miklos each had three hits for Hopewell, which scored seven of its runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Joe Rock pitched 51⁄ innings and picked up the win.

Ringgold 5, New Castle 4: Bobby Boyer, who hit a home run earlier in the game, got a bases-loaded walk in the seventh to drive home the winning run for the Rams (15-3) against New Castle (12-10) at Washington & Jefferson. Koby Bubash had three hits.

Class 3A

Avonworth 8, Shady Side Academy 6: The Antelopes (15-4) had 17 hits and held off a late rally by Shady Side Academy (7-10) at the Burkett in Robinson. Corey Dick had a home run for Avonworth.

South Side Beaver 4, Burrell 3: Bishop McCoy’s RBI double in the bottom of the seventh scored the winning run as the Rams (13-4) knocked off Burrell (10-4) at Peterswood Park. Burrell got a three-run homer by Luke Virag in the third.

Class 2A

Serra 5, Laurel 0: Nate Piontka pitched a three-hitter and struck out eight as No. 1-seeded Serra (20-1) rolled over Laurel (12-6) at West Mifflin.

C.W. North Catholic 8, Carlynton 4: The score was tied, 4-4, after four innings, but Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic (16-4) came on strong for the win against the Cougars (13-5) at Seneca Valley. Jack Cassidy, Luke Madonna and Joe Alampi each had two hits for North Catholic.

Class 1A

Jeannette 5, Quigley 3: The winning Jayhawks (13-3) scored twice in the eighth to pull out the win against Quigley (13-2) at Fox Chapel. Tre Cunningham had three hits and two RBIs and also pitched six innings and struck out 10.

Greensburg C.C. 9, Eden Christian 7: Eden Christian (8-8) had 14 hits to only six for Greensburg Central Catholic (13-5), but GCC still came away with the win at Fox Chapel. Antonio Cavallo had three RBIs for GCC.

Vincentian 7, Cornell 0: Stephen Turzai pitched a twohitter and struck out 12 as Vincentian (14-4) rolled past Cornell (10-5) at Shaler.

Union 7, Monessen 6: Monessen (11-7) scored five runs in the top of the seventh to tie the score at the Burkett Complex. But Bryce Smith’s RBI single in the bottom of the seventh gave Union (133) the win.