May 18, 2026 By Jonathan Guth 6 min read

John Woodward threw two pitches that he would have liked to have back, but the Jefferson-Morgan senior left-hander more than accounted for himself in Monday’s game in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class A baseball playoffs at Ross Memorial Park on the campus of Washington & Jefferson College.

The problem for Woodward and the Rockets was Greensburg Central Catholic senior starter Tyler Samide.

The Chatham commit struck out 17 and hit a three-run home run to lead the Centurions to a 4-1 victory.

In Game 2 of the doubleheader, Eden Christian defended its No. 1 seed with a 12-2 victory over Carmichaels in five innings.

Woodward yielded four earned runs on four hits with nine strikeouts and four walks over six innings. He threw 98 pitches (55 strikes).

Greensburg Central Catholic (16-0) advanced to Wednesday’s semifinals against Serra Catholic (13-6).

GCC had defeated J-M twice this year in section play by scores of 4-0 and 8-2.

Jefferson-Morgan’s season comes to an end at 12-9, which is the final game in John Curtis’ 42nd year, as the veteran coach is retiring.

“There were a couple of pitches that they hit out of the park, but other than that, we handled the other guys pretty good,” Curtis said. “It was an hour-and-a-half game with six hits between the two teams. Their pitcher is good, but you have to be good the rest of the way. We did get a playoff win this year, but would have liked to stack a few of those. Both teams kind of knew what the other had.”

Samide’s homer came on an 0-2 pitch, as he took a knuckleball over the left field fence for a 4-0 lead. Nolan Sopko and Anthony Grippo, who hit a solo homer in the first inning, scored on Samide’s blast.

“He threw a third knuckleball in a row on the home run,” Samide said. “It kind of started in the middle, and it had a little bit of tumble to it, but it dropped right into the barrel. I had a good game batting against them the first two games in section play.”

Sopko walked to lead off the frame and advanced to second on Stephen Kochis’ single to left field. Kochis was forced out at third base when Brayden Ellsworth fired to Austin Grandel at third base and Grippo was safe at first base on a fielder’s choice.

Grippo hit his homer on a 2-0 count after Woodward recorded a strikeout and induced a flyout to left field for two quick outs in the opening inning.

“We did not take Jefferson-Morgan lightly,” Greensburg Central Catholic coach John Boyle said. “They are very well coached. John (Curtis) is a phenomenal coach, and he had them ready. They had been playing great ball the last 10 to 12 games.

“It was a big charge into the team when Anthony (Grippo) hit that home run. We would have liked to get a few more runs, but when you have someone like Tyler (Samide) pitching, a three-run leads feels pretty good.”

Samide didn’t allow an earned run on two hits over seven innings. He issued two walks in throwing 107 pitches (71 strikes). Samide was allowed to finish off the game, as he was at 103 prior to the last Rocket coming to bat.

“My approach the whole day was to just go right away guys,” Samide said. “I walked more than I would like, but it was good enough to get the job done.”

Boyle wasn’t surprised by Samide’s performance.

“He has been doing that all year,” Boyle said. “He added some velocity over the last year, and he has been throwing hard. He mixes up his pitches, and he has a great guy behind the plate calling them.”

Jefferson-Morgan scored in the fourth inning to cut the deficit to 4-1 when Woodward doubled to left field and courtesy runner Dayten Marion scored on Drew Adams’ groundout to shortstop. Marion hustled to third base on a passed ball. Adams had the other hit for the Rockets when he singled to center field in the second frame.

Jefferson-Morgan had runners at second and third in the second with one out after Woodward walked, Adams singled and Joe Bair laid down a sacrifice bunt, but Samide ended the threat with back-to-back strikeouts.

Eden Christian 12-2

In the nightcap, the Mikes (9-9) tied the game in the third inning at 2-2, but the Warriors (14-4) responded with a run in the bottom of the third frame and seven runs in the fourth to take control.

Eden Christian will play Western Beaver (12-3) in the semifinals on Wednesday.

“In the first few innings until the bottom of the fourth, we competed,” Carmichaels coach Dickie Krause said. “We knew going in what we were up against. They are a very good team, and their No. 3 and 4 hitters are probably the best combo in the WPIAL.

Carmichaels opened the third frame with back-to-back singles from Ryder Krieg and Cooper Richards before Krieg scored on Brayden Andrews’ groundout to shortstop to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Richards crossed home plate on Jordan Davis’ grounder to second base for a 2-2 game.

Eden Christian regained the lead at 3-2 in the bottom of the third when Jackson Bremmer singled and scored on an error.

Five of the seven runs the Warriors scored in the fourth were unearned. Eden Christian scored all of its runs in the frame with two outs.

The Warriors added two runs in the fifth to invoke the 10-run rule.

“We just have to grow as a team and as a program to take that next step so that fourth inning doesn’t happen,” Krause said. “That inning has happened at least four times this year. We were hanging around, and they had their No. 1, the lefty, warming up over there. We just made so many mistakes.”

Dominic Yazzani doubled for Carmichaels, and Brayden Andrews singled.

Brady Hull hit a solo home run for Eden Christian in the first inning. Bremmer, Noah Emswiler and Christian Watkins also doubled for the Warriors. Emswiler tripled and drove in three runs.