Bulldogs complete comeback, walk-off into the D-10 semifinals

The game plan didn't go as scheduled, but Meadville head coach Tony Tartaglione's call to steal home sure did.

Meadville defeated Grove City 6-5 in Tuesday's District 10 Class 4A quarterfinal at Allegheny College. The Bulldogs trailed 5-3 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, but leaned on the top of the order to complete the comeback.

Senior Rocco Tartaglione was hit by the first pitch of the inning and junior Bradyn Miller answered with a single. Fellow senior Brighton Anderson singled on a hard ground ball that scored Tartaglione from second base to gain momentum for the 'Dogs.

"We just said 'We're not done yet.' We've been in this position before," Rocco Tartaglione said. "Obviously there is a lot of pressure, but there is no also pressure. Just do the little things, the things we always do, and good things happen."

With Henry DeSantis-Biggs up to bat, the 'Dogs needed one run to extend the game and two to win. Anderson attempted to steal second base, but fell to the ground more than halfway to the bag, which was all part of the plan. Grove City attempted to throw Anderson out and it allowed Miller to steal home from third base to tie the game at 5.

"I called it, it's a play we have. And it worked," Tony Tartaglione said. "Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I'll take it this time."

Anderson advanced to third base on Miller's steal to set up DeSantis-Biggs with the winning run on third base. The sophomore hit a comebacker to the mound and Anderson showed his speed as he dove head-first into home for the win.

"Just have fun and do your job, that's what we did in that last inning," Anderson said. "We told the guys before the game that we're not ready to be done. We want to keep going and keep striding through these playoffs."

The seventh inning was all Meadville, but Grove City controlled most of the game. The Bulldogs didn't lead until the walk-off to end it.

Grove City opened the game with a run and added three more in the fourth inning for a 4-1 lead. Meadville responded in the bottom of the fourth with two runs and loaded the bases with one out, but stranded all three runners.

"The game plan going in was to get up and stay up. We had a few defensive meltdowns — a few errors that cost us some runs," Tony Tartaglione said. "Grove City's pitchers kept us off balance a little bit. I didn't think we hit as good as we should.

"I said in that last inning let's get base runners on and see what happens. We were where we wanted to be in the lineup and it happened — again."

The ending was reminiscent of last year's walk-off win against Grove City in the district quarterfinals, when the team overcame six errors to win the game with a walk-off. The team then rallied in the semifinals when Tartaglione's walk-off RBI double defeated Hickory.

Meadville had two errors on Tuesday and stranded plenty of runners throughout the game, but came up big at the end.

Anderson was 2-for-4 with two RBIs while Tartaglione was 1-for-2 with two runs. On the bump, starter AJ Feleppa struck out four and allowed two earned runs in four innings. Tartaglione pitched the final three innings with one earned run and five strike outs.

Anderson and Tartaglione are both committed to play baseball for Allegheny College. The opportunity to earned a win on their future college field wasn't lost on the seniors.

"It's a good atmosphere down here. To have a high school playoff game on your future field is something special," Rocco Tartaglione said. "To win it is even more special."

Meadville, the No. 3 seed, will move on to face the second-seeded Sharon Tigers on Friday at a time and place to be announced.

"We're gonna run into Sharon. They have a tough team. Now we can go to work with what we'll see with them," Tony Tartaglione said. "We have to play a little better than we did today, but all we have to do is move on and we'll go from there."

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Grove City (5)

(AB-R-H-BI) Adams 2-2-1-1, Schell 3-0-1-1, Renick 4-1-1-0, Gubba 3-0-0-0, Martin 3-0-0-0, Hathaway 3-0-2-1, Fischer 1-0-0-0, Rider 1-0-0-0, Stevenson 3-1-1-0, Knouse 3-1-1-1. Totals 26-5-7-3.

Meadville (6)

(AB-R-H-BI) I. Miller 4-0-0-0, Tartaglione 2-2-1-0, B. Miller 4-1-1-0, Anderson 4-1-2-2, DeSantis-Biggs 3-0-1-1, Arpin 2-1-1-0, Reichel 3-0-1-0, Kleist 3-0-1-1, Thompson 1-0-0-1. Totals 26-6-8-5.

Grove City 100 310 0 — 5 7 1

Meadville 100 200 3 — 6 8 2

BATTING

2B: GC — Adams, Hathaway.

PITCHING

(IP-H-R-ER-SO-BB) GC — Fischer 3.1-5-3-3-3-2, Rider 2.2-3-3-3-3-1; M — Feleppa 4-5-4-2-4-2, Tartaglione 3-2-1-1-5-1.