ROBINSON TWP — It was only a matter of time before someone broke through, but who? And would it be enough?

In Tuesday's WPIALClass AAAA baseball quarterfinal, Upper St. Clair and Seneca Valley had chances in the first four innings, but neither team could plate a run.

In the fifth inning, Phil Double's RBI single highlighted a three-run frame that led the Raiders to a 7-3 victory over the Panthers.

Upper St. Clair trailed 7-0 in the bottom of the seventh before scoring three times and bringing the tying run to the plate. Zach Duggan, however, made a diving catch to end the game.

With the win, the Raiders advance to the semifinals today, where they will face Norwin at 5:30 p.m. at Shaler.

"I'm proud for the kids. This is what they've worked for," said Seneca Valley coach Eric Semega.

Speaking of opportunities, the Panthers left eight men on base in the first four innings, including five in the first two. They had the bases loaded with one out in the first inning, but stranded all three runners.

"It was hard to keep my focus after the long layoff," said Raiders starter Cory Mazzoni. "I found a groove after the first few batters."

The Raiders (13-6) grounded into inning-ending double plays in the first two frames and stranded a runner on third after he reached with one out.

In the fifth, Seneca Valley manufactured three runs, some courtesy of a couple of bloop hits.

With one out, Kevin Rohm singled and Shane Patsilevas hit a blooper down the first-base line that allowed Rohm to go to third base.

Double then hit his run-scoring single to right field to give Seneca Valley a 1-0 lead. After a walk by Duggan to load the bases, West Allegheny's Ed Bittner replaced Pat Gannon on the mound and promptly gave up a pop-up single to Kevan Smith that doubled the Raiders' lead.

Brett Spagnola then hit a sacrifice fly down the right-field line to make the score 3-0.

"Look how we broke the game open: a flair down the line," said Semega. "You have to get those. I tell the players to put the bat on the ball. You never know what happens," Semega added.

"It was easier to relax then and just throw strikes," said Mazzoni.

The Panthers hoped to bounce back in the fifth when McDonough opened with a hit, but Mazzoni picked off courtesy runner Rob Colditz.

He then fanned Jack Greenberg and got Pat Glass to ground out to end the inning.

"That (pickoff) was a game changer," said Semega. "Then we get them 1-2-3 (in the sixth)."

A two-run homer by Andrew Fornadel in the sixth inning and two unearned runs in the seventh inning staked the Raiders to a 7-0 lead.

Mazzoni, who had scattered six hits in six innings and had overcome three hit batsmen early in the game, had settled down, but he ran out of gas in the seventh.

West Allegheny's Ben Barley opened with a single and Len Mills walked before consecutive RBI singles by O'Connor and McDonough chased Mazzoni.

Kyle Helisek, another sophomore, came in and walked Greenberg to load the bases.

Glass struck out, then John Bocchini grounded back to the mound, which Helisek tossed to catcher Smith for the second out.

Josh Buker then walked to make it 7-3 and to bring the game-tying run to the plate.

Duggan, who caught 43 passes as a wide receiver this past fall, made his biggest catch of the year, robbing Russ Kropp and the Panthers the chance to pull closer.

"I thought, 'Uh-oh,' but Zach Duggan has bailed us out many, many times," said Semega. "That was a great effort. "

Seneca Valley 000 032 2—7 11 1Upper St. Clair 000 000 3—3 9 3WP: Cory Mazzoni (6+ IP) 5 strikeouts, 1 walk.

LP: Pat Gannon (4 1/3 IP) 2 strikeouts, 1 walk

Seneca Valley (13-6): Phil Double 1B, RBI; Zach Duggan 1B; Kevan Smith 3-1B, RBI; Brett Spagnola SFRBI; Cory Mazzoni 1B; Andrew Fornadel HR, 3 RBI; Dan Jergel 1B; Kevin Rohm 2-1B; Shane Patsilevas 1B

Upper St. Clair (13-8): Len Mills 2-1B; Ryan O'Connor 2-1B, RBI; Kris McDonough 3-1B, RBI; Josh Buker 21B, RBI; Ben Barley 1B

Today: Semifinals-Seneca Valley vs. Norwin at Shaler, 5:30 p.m.