Greensburg Central Catholic baseball dominates Jeannette

By: Dave Mackall
Tuesday, April 1, 2025 | 9:45 PM

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Greensburg Central Catholic maintained the momentum of its early-season success in baseball with a 14-3 drubbing of visiting Jeannette on Tuesday in a WPIAL game shortened to 4 1/2 innings by a 10-run rule.

GCC (5-1, 3-0) will look to extend its unbeaten streak in Section 1-1A when the teams play a rematch Wednesday afternoon at Jeannette.

“We’ve got some things we’ve got to clean up, but we’ll be ready to play,” GCC coach John Boyle said without elaborating on any areas of concern.

The Centurions banged out 12 hits and took advantage of five Jeannette errors — four during a six-run fourth that established an 11-run lead — while committing two miscues of their own.

Tyler Samide scattered six hits, allowing single runs in the first, third and fourth. The junior right-hander struck out six and walked two.

“Tyler is our No. 1 pitcher for a reason,” Boyle said. “He throws hard, he has good off-speed stuff and he competes. He never wants to come off that mound. I have to wrestle him for the ball. He’s a good pitcher.”

Not that Samide encountered much trouble against a Jeannette roster that includes no seniors.

“We’ll be back at it (Wednesday),” Jeannette coach Marcus Clarkson said. “I really love this group of players. We’ve got 11 juniors and one sophomore that have been playing together for a while.”

Anthony Grippo went 3 for 3, and Blase Bugosh had three RBIs as GCC won for the fifth time in a row after opening the season in the Serra Catholic Invitational with a one-run loss to Class 2A Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.

“I’m expecting we’ll compete for a section championship,” Boyle said.

Greensburg Central Catholic and Jeannette dropped in classification this season after both competed a year ago in Section 3-2A. Their new section in Class A requires a bit more travel.

“I cannot stand the fact that they put Westmoreland County teams against teams an hour-and-a-half bus ride away,” Boyle said. “Westmoreland County has great baseball with enough teams from around here to make up a section. I’ve got 17 teenage boys who don’t mind it as much as me. They enjoy each other’s company, for sure. I don’t need to be on a bus for that long.”

But his beef isn’t intended to spark any drama.

“It’s not the time we get home that’s the problem, it’s the length of the bus rides that’s a bit much,” Boyle said.

In spite of it, he welcomes the new competition.

“All those Greene County teams are tough,” Boyle said. “We play Jefferson-Morgan (on March 25) and 10-runned them here, but we go down there (on March 26) and it’s a 5-2 (victory). You never know what to expect, but I think we’re good enough that we can compete for a section championship.

“Carmichaels traditionally has played some great baseball. I’m really interested to see how we do against them.”

The Centurions and Mighty Mikes are scheduled to play back-to-back games April 14 at GCC and April 15 at Carmichaels.

“Jefferson-Morgan is a great team, West Greene has some really good pitching and Avella (6-0, 2-0) is tough and they’re rolling through the section.”

Avella, a Washington County school, has outscored opponents 51-12 this season.

Jeannette (1-3, 0-1), which was playing its section opener, was led by Noah Rattigan’s two hits, including a third-inning triple that led to a run and cut GCC’s lead to 7-2.

The Centurions scored two runs in the first and five in the second, highlighted by Sean Walker’s two-run double after Jeannette took a 1-0 lead in the first.

Clarkson, in his 24th season at Jeannette, kept a positive vibe, despite a second lopsided loss in four games — the Jayhawks were beaten by Riverview, 15-0, on March 21 in another 10-run rule affair.

“It’s just a matter of growing together and continuing to play,” he said. “We played a decent baseball game today, but they played better. We’ve got to clean it up on defense.”

It’s just like Clarkson to turn the page, Boyle said.

“It doesn’t matter who you’re playing. You never take anyone for granted,” he said. “Marcus has his guys ready to play all the time. It’s Jeannette vs. GCC. They always have talented players, and Marcus gets every last ounce out of those guys.

“Actually, I like playing them because I like the way Marcus rolls. He’s a great coach, and we’re always going to get a good game.”

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Jeannette