New Castle edges No. 1 Greensburg Salem in 11th inning of WPIAL quarterfinal game

By: George Guido
Tuesday, May 21, 2019 | 7:35 PM

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It took two days and two different venues.

Finally, New Castle pushed across a run in the top of the 11th inning and held on to defeat top-seeded Greensburg Salem, 1-0, in a WPIAL Class 4A baseball quarterfinal Tuesday at North Allegheny High School.

Vince Soukovich scored on a wild pitch and reliever Brayden Cartwright got out of a jam in the bottom of the 11th to secure the victory.

The game started late Monday afternoon at Fox Chapel and was called because of darkness after 10 innings. WPIAL officials scheduled the continuation at North Allegheny.

The ninth-seeded Red Hurricanes (10-9) will face Blackhawk in a semifinal contest at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at Shaler’s Matulevic Field.

The Golden Lions depart the tourney with a 14-3 record.

New Castle won it without the benefit of a base hit. Soukovich opened the 11th with a walk off Lions reliever Aaren Putt and went to second as Dante Micaletti laid down a perfect bunt and was barely out at first.

A slightly passed ball and a wild pitch followed, allowing Soukovich to sprint for home.

“This is the craziest game of my life,” Soukovich said. “I’m just glad we came out on top. I couldn’t waste any time when the pitch got away. I felt you had to be aggressive at that point and win the game right there.”

The game had its share of contrasting emotions.

Greensburg Salem nearly scored the winning run in the bottom of the 10th Monday. Matt Wicker laced a double to left center, and Matt Senchak relayed the ball to shortstop Rocco Bernadina in the short, left-field grass. Bernadina threw a perfect strike to Cartwright at home to retire Jack Oberdorf.

“This was crazy,” Red Hurricanes coach Bill Cook said. “We just played an outstanding team. I can’t begin to tell you the emotions that go along with a game like this. (Monday) the day ending the way it did. Being involved in baseball all my life, my coaches and I played in college and high school. We’ve never seen a game or been part of a game like this.”

“We had a situation like this a couple of years ago,” Greensburg Salem coach Bill Wisniewski said. “We had to go back to Moon the following day to complete a playoff game, and we dropped that one. It’s tough for kids; it’s tough for adults. It’s a roller coaster ride. Baseball’s that type of game.”

After New Castle scored, the Golden Lions didn’t go away quietly. Noah Sweeney singled with one out and took second on a wild pitch.

With two away, Sage Parsley fought of several pitches with two strikes and finally hit a chopper toward third. Parsley dove into first base as Sweeney took third.

But Cartwright struck out Dajauhn Hertzog to end the game.

“I’m proud of the way our guys battled, even after that passed ball got a runner in scoring position,” Wisniewski said. “Proud of the way they played all year. We certainly don’t wrap everything up into today. We accept today, but we enjoy the good times we had during the season.”

The Golden Lions were a semifinalist last year after upsetting Blackhawk.

A New Castle victory would put the Red Hurricanes in the finals next Tuesday at Washington’s Wild Things Park.

A loss would put New Castle in a consolation game to determine the third entry into the PIAA playoff bracket.

Tags: Greensburg Salem, New Castle