May 19, 2025 5 min read

By Joe Smeltzer

For the Observer-Reporter

newsroom@observer-reporter.com

UPPER ST. CLAIR – Once upon a time, Seb Shulsky would have finished the game.

The Canon-McMillan starting pitcher had allowed no runs on just three hits and struck out nine through 6 2/3 innings Monday, needing just one more out to finish a complete game.

But WPIAL rules state that no starter can throw more than 105 pitches in a playoff game, and that was the exact number Shulsky had when he retired North Hills’ Austin Ellis on a groundout for the second out of the sixth.

So Shulsky had to settle for 20 outs instead of 21, and was disappointed about that.

But what mattered most to him was that M.J. Maruschak – who happens to be Shulsky’s best friend – got out No. 21 and sent Canon-Mac to the Class 6A semifinals, sealing a 3-0 win in the quarterfinals at Boyce Mayview Park.

Shulsky credited his teammates for a lot of his success.

“No matter what situation me and my team get into, I can get out of it, and they can get me out of it,” he said. “No matter what. They put runs up early, gave me confidence. I got out of jams, they got me out of jams. I mean, I really couldn’t ask for a better team. I love these guys, and I’m going to be sad when the seniors go away.”

It wasn’t always easy for Shulsky

In the third inning, seventh-seeded North Hills (8-12) loaded the bases with just one out.

But Shulsky struck out Austin Demartino and got Ethan Guszynski to ground out and keep the score at 3-0 Big Macs (14-6).

Shulsky only allowed one baserunner the rest of the game.

“I just couldn’t be more proud of him,” Canon-Mac coach Brendon Steele said. “He’s been that guy all year for us, and the guy you’re going to see tomorrow was right there as well. We have a great one-two punch, one-one punch, whatever way you want to handle it. It’s there.

“But Seb, I mean, he steps up. There’s a reason why schools are looking at him. He just takes the burden and puts it on his back. As long as we get him a few runs, we feel like we have a shot just because of what he can do.”

Canon-McMillan got all three of its runs in the bottom of the first, and it happened in unconventional fashion. With one out, the Big Macs had runners on first and second. Brayden Radue hit a grounder to second, which Tino Volpe threw to Ellis, the shortstop. Ellis threw to first baseman Demartino to try for an inning-ending double play, but the throw got past Demartino and allowed the first run to score. Teddy Burke then made it 2-0 with a single that scored Maruschak. Burke then scored on a throwing error by North Hills catcher Cooper Ravenstahl.

“It’s always good whenever you can jump on them in the first inning,” Steele said. “That’s how momentum goes, right? You get one to fall in. You get one off the glove or something. You always have to capitalize. You want to swing the momentum in your favor. What we need to do a better job of is continuing to score throughout the game and not just relying on Seb. He has a strong arm, but (we need to) continue to pad that lead.”

Shulsky took it from there, even though North Hills didn’t make it easy on him.

In addition to taking four walks and loading the bases in the third, the Indians made it hard on Shulsky even when nobody was getting on base.

Ethan Gusznyski led off the top of the second with a 13-pitch at-bat that, although it ended with a strikeout, that couldn’t have been enjoyable for the pitcher.

“They were fighting,” Steele said. “They were driving his pitch count up, and for him to be able to get to the seventh, we’re very proud of it.”

So would Steele have stayed with Shulsky if he had the option?

“It all depends, honestly,” he said. “Because it’s safety first with us. We always want to win the game, but not to the extent where we’re worried about hurting a kid’s arm. If he felt good and was OK and we didn’t see him laboring … Obviously, we’re not going to go too much more, but we always know that, if he can get us there, we have a great pitching staff led by Coach (Pat Gannon) and our bullpen’s deep. Starters plus bullpen. So we’re very fortunate this year.”

North Hills’ Tristan Weimann wasn’t fortunate.

He pitched a whale of a game, giving up no runs on just two hits after a first inning that wasn’t entirely his fault.

But he took a hard-luck loss, and Canon-Mac is moving on.

Next up, Canon-Mac takes on the winner of third-seeded Seneca Valley and No. 6 Mt. Lebanon, 4 p.m. today back at Boyce-Mayview.

So, is this a championship team?

“This is our best chance since 2018,” Shulsky said. “We hadn’t won a playoff game in a while, and I think this just shows that Canon-Mac, we’re going to play. We are not holding back. We are going for it all. No matter what.”