{"id":79515,"date":"2025-06-04T20:29:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T20:29:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/79515\/"},"modified":"2025-06-04T20:29:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-04T20:29:15","slug":"tireless-drive-to-improve-carries-greensburg-central-catholic-baseball-into-state-quarterfinals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/79515\/","title":{"rendered":"Tireless drive to improve carries Greensburg Central Catholic baseball into state quarterfinals"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Bill Beckner Jr.<\/a><\/p>\n

Wednesday, June 4, 2025 | 4:08 PM<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \"8562675_web1_ptr-GCCWMbase08-060325\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tChristopher Horner | TribLive \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Greensburg Central Catholic\u2019s Ian Shipley celebrates after driving in a run with a triple against West Middlesex during a PIAA Class A first-round playoff game Monday at Slippery Rock University.<\/p>\n

Practice ends and Greensburg Central Catholic baseball players break to greet the day ahead.<\/p>\n

Maybe an afternoon by the pool awaits? A Sheetz run? Hanging out at a friend\u2019s house?<\/p>\n

No, it\u2019s time to hit the cages.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s a little more baseball?<\/p>\n

Training never seems to stop for the Centurions, who go their separate ways to stay sharp, not just in season, but year round.<\/p>\n

GCC spent two hours Wednesday morning practicing on the turf at Latrobe\u2019s Graham-Sobota Field before players filtered out to hit and train.<\/p>\n

The Centurions (19-4) will take on Clarion (15-6) in Thursday\u2019s PIAA Class A quarterfinals at Slippery Rock University and they will be well-stocked with reps \u2014 lots of reps.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are all grinders,\u201d GCC coach John Boyle said. \u201cThat\u2019s the story of this team: hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Catcher Anthony Grippo can attest.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s nothing new for us,\u201d Grippo said. \u201cA lot of players say they are going to start hitting more because they are in the state playoffs. We get swings in every day. It would bother me if I didn\u2019t hit every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

GCC has a roster of players who did not grow up playing youth baseball on the same teams, but they share a common want to improve.<\/p>\n

Grippo and Ian Shipley spend hours hitting at Industry Sports in Mt. Pleasant. Grippo estimates he hits 1,000 balls a week.<\/p>\n

They recall a nine-hour day of hitting that was interrupted only by a break for Chipotle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe work ethic comes from everybody loving baseball,\u201d Shipley said.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrip\u201d and \u201cShip\u201d aren\u2019t alone.<\/p>\n

Boyle said the team puts in the time at practice first, working on situational baseball and gameday prep, before branching off to voluntarily work on their own.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeau (Bossert) is going to lift, Jackson (McMullen) is going to (physical) therapy, Brody (Bothell) is going to hit, Tyler (Samide) is going to hit \u2014 they all work behind the scenes,\u201d Boyle said. \u201cA lot of our guys have hitting coaches, and our pitchers have pitching coaches. I have the keys to the Maserati. Just don\u2019t drive it off the road.\u201d<\/p>\n

The coach said his team has made it this far because of its diligence and time spent in the batting cage.<\/p>\n

Grippo, a Penn State commit, said the extra work is the reason GCC is two rounds into the state bracket.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t want to be 30 or 40 years old and be sitting on the couch \u2026 and wonder what you could have done better,\u201d Grippo said. \u201cYou have to keep up. The sun is going to come up tomorrow. The moon is going to come up tomorrow night. It doesn\u2019t stop for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shipley, who also is chasing a college baseball career, also doesn\u2019t want regrets about his baseball career later in life.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to work to get to the next level, and I don\u2019t mean college or pros, whatever,\u201d he said. \u201cYou want to get better for yourself. People are out there getting better while you\u2019re sitting on the couch eating Doritos.\u201d<\/p>\n

The players don\u2019t have to put in the additional time, but Boyle said they want to.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have character,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the kind of kids we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

When GCC played at Jeannette, heavy rain forced a postponement. Boyle was trying to step over a large puddle when he hit his head on the bottom of a metal bleacher, causing a laceration on his scalp.<\/p>\n

The bus went directly to AHN Hempfield where a bloodied Boyle got three staples. He told the bus driver to take the team back to GCC while his wife stayed with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look out and every player came into the ER,\u201d Boyle said. \u201cThey wanted to be there. When there is crisis, they are very cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boyle likes the makeup of his team and his fondness goes beyond practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the deepest team GCC has had since I\u2019ve been coaching,\u201d the sixth-year coach said. \u201cAnd possibly the deepest since the Tommy Pellis, Liberatore brothers, Neal McDermott era.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another group that knew a thing or two about practice.<\/p>\n

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n

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