Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Claysburg-Kimmel’s Nathan Cox advances to third on a single.

CLAYSBURG — By the time that Greensburg Central Catholic finished the top of the second inning by scoring seven runs Monday night — including a grand slam by Anthony Grippo — Claysburg-Kimmel’s baseball season looked like it wasn’t just coming to an end, but it might’ve ended on a 10-run rule.

“I said to my kids in the dugout after they got those seven runs, ‘I don’t care what happens the rest of the game, but there’s a lot of fans, and there’s a lot of people here,'” Bulldog coach Kyle Glass said. “We haven’t won a state playoff game in maybe forever. I said if we lose, we lose, but give it a 175 percent because that’s your only chance.”

Then someone let the Bulldogs out because they ended up with a hot third inning of their own, and eventually survived what turned into a staring contest late in the game.

That’s when Paul-Kenneth Strayer’s plate discipline paid off with a walk in the bottom of the ninth as the Bulldogs walked off with a thrilling 11-10 win over the Centurions in a PIAA Class 1A first-round matchup.

“Paul-Kenneth battles every day in practice,” Glass said of the decision to have him hit in the ninth inning. “I said Paul, ‘it’s your chance.'”

The Bulldogs face Elk County Catholic on Thursday at a site and time to be announced in the state quarterfinals.

Claysburg’s big answer came during the third inning as on a throwing error on a pickoff attempt with the bases loaded, Grippo’s throw went wide of the third baseman deep into left field. That cleared the bases and helped cut the deficit down to 8-7.

“We just took it pitch by pitch, and we have lots of confidence in ourselves,” Mason Campagna, who went 4-for-4, said of his team’s resilience. “We had nothing to lose. We just went out and played as hard as we could.”

Things seemed to level off until the sixth when Dan Brady belted a line drive into center field, which resulted in a book-rule double to stretch the Centurions lead to 9-7.

But then the Bulldogs answered in the home half of the sixth as Gavin Treon smacked a solo home run to left field before Paydden Knisely added on an RBI double to tie the game at nine.

Both teams traded runs in the seventh as Dustin Slowik drove in a run on a fielder’s choice. Slowik finished 3-for-6 at the plate driving in two runs.

Campagna took on long relief duty for the Bulldogs as he went 3• innings allowing just one run with three walks and nine strikeouts.

“He threw 10 innings this year, that’s it,” Glass said. “He usually comes in 10 pitches. He threw 80 pitches one time this year early in the year. I said ‘Mason, you got to keep grinding for me. He said, ‘I got you coach, don’t take me out.'”

Glass couldn’t be prouder of how his team dug deep after overcoming an early Centurion explosion.

“It’s all for the boys,” he said. “I appreciate every single one of them. I appreciate every single coach I have, I appreciate every single fan that came. These boys deserve it, and I knew they would fight back.”

GREENSBURG CENTRAL CATHOLIC (10): Sopko 2b 421, Kochis ss-p 600, Grippo c 411, Samide 1b-3b-p 422, Kramer 3b-ss 411, Brady cf 412, Roberts dh 411, Martin p-1b 411, Bateson cf 513. Totals — 39-10-12.

CLAYSBURG-KIMMEL (11): Campagna c-p 424, Haney ss 310, Treon cf-p-cf 522, Slowik p-1b 613, Soler rf 510, Knisely 3b 513, Fee lf 410, Strayer ph 000, Lehman dh 410, Claar 1b 000, Tremmel rf 000, Cox 310. Totals — 39-11-12.

SCORE BY INNINGS

Greensburg Central Cath. 071 001 100 – 10 12 3

Claysburg-Kimmel 106 002 101 – 11 12 0

E–Kramer, Samide, Grippo (GCC). 2B–Brady (GCC); Knisely (CK). 3B–Martin (GCC). HR–Grippo (GCC); Treon (CK). RBI–Sopko 2, Grippo 4, Brady, Bateson (GCC); Campagna, Treon, Slowik 2, Soler, Strayer, Knisely 2 (CK).

PITCHING

GREENSBURG CENTRAL: Martin, 2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO; Kochis 0.2 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 3 BB 1 SO; Samide 5.2 IP 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 SO; Brady (L) 0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO.

CLAYSBURG-KIMMEL: Slowik, 1.2 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO; Treon 4 IP 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO; Campagna (W); 3.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 9 SO.

Record: Greensburg Central Catholic (19-2); Claysburg-Kimmel (17-7).