May 16, 2016 5 min read

WEXFORD – One pitch at a time is a simple cliché coaches use to keep players focused during a baseball game, but for Tim Bruzdewicz, it’s a methodical approach he urges his players to adopt.

Since he was hired as Canon-McMillan’s head coach last August, Bruzdewicz insists on not looking ahead or dwelling on the past.

His players have followed his lead.

It would have been easy for the Big Macs to dwell on losing three consecutive section games in April or their four-run deficit Monday afternoon.

With their season hanging in the balance, Bruzdewicz, a baseball lifer who was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1988, kept repeating to his players between innings – underclassmen or not – “one at a time.”

The focus on one pitch – and a total ignorance toward how insurmountable the odds might be stacked against them – propelled the Big Macs to their first playoff win since 2014 and into the WPIAL Class AAAA quarterfinals.

Senior right fielder Josh Palma capped a three-run seventh inning with a walk-off RBI single to right-center field, giving seventh-seeded Canon-McMillan a 7-6 win over No. 10 North Hills in a first-round playoff game at North Allegheny.

The win is the eighth in nine games for the Big Macs (13-7), who will play second-seeded Pine-Richland in the quarterfinals at a site and date to be determined. Canon-McMillan did it by scoring five runs in the final two innings after getting only one hit through five innings.

“I’m just so proud of these kids,” Bruzdewicz said. “These kids have the eternal toughness. They aren’t going to quit until the very last out and that’s what we did today. We got clutch relief pitching, we got clutch hitting and we stayed in it.”

Trailing 6-4 entering the seventh inning, Canon-McMillan was relieved to see North Hills starting pitcher Brendan Burke leave the game after his high arm angle and control stumped the Big Macs.

Against relief pitcher Mike Serpa, Canon-McMillan freshman second baseman Cam Walker reached on an infield single on a chopper to third base to lead off the seventh and sophomore first baseman Ian Hess followed with a double down the left-field line.

Four pitches later, senior catcher Tanner Piechnick, an Ohio University recruit who scored three times, hit an RBI-single to center to cut the deficit to one. Serpa got a strikeout before a strange sequence tied the score.

Big Macs senior third baseman Matt Mish hit a slow roller down the first-base line that was foul, but drifted into fair territory. North Hills first baseman Andrew Toplak hesitated, finally deciding to pick the ball up and flip it to the second baseman covering, but Mish was safe and pinch-runner Brandon Kline scored the tying run.

The Indians (13-8) committed two errors in the final two innings, and also did not cover third base with runners on first and second on a ground ball to short with no outs in the sixth, leading to two runs for the Big Macs.

“It was foul all the way down the line then it had the spin on it,” North Hills head coach Randy Miller said of the play. “Once it hit the grass, he touched it in fair territory. It was the correct call. It’s amazing. We just didn’t play smart the last few innings and it wasted a great performance.”

With runners on first and second and two outs, before Palma stepped to the plate, first-base coach Dan DeVitis gave him some advice – Serpa’s fastball was tailing to the outside, so step closer to the plate.

The first pitch went for a ball, but with a focus on the next pitch, Palma waited for a fastball on the outside corner and got it, lining a ball past the outstretched arm of North Hills center fielder Nathan Bly to score Piechnick and give the Big Macs the win.

On a team that starts three sophomores, one freshman and turned to another out of the bullpen, it was the three seniors who came up big.

“I’m just glad to get this win,” Palma said. “It’s a great team win. We never quit; never have all year.”

North Hills scored two runs in the second inning on four hits for a 2-0 lead. C-M pitcher Zach Rohaley was spectacular at times but ran into trouble with the command of his curveball. He walked five, struck out six and allowed six runs. It was freshman Cameron Weston, who retired eight of 10 batters faced after allowing a two-run double in the fifth inning, thatwas the winning pitcher.

The Big Macs scored two runs in the second before their offense went silent. That was until the comeback began in the sixth with two runs on three hits, including an RBI-single by Nick Serafino.

It ended with Piechnick crossing home plate, a celebration in the infield and one shocked head coach.

“When it was 6-2, I told them that team isn’t going away,” Miller said. “They’re peaking at the right time. That team is hungry. That team is dangerous. They played a heck of a game. How they attacked those last two innings was pretty impressive. That’s why they’re moving on.”