O'HARA TWP — Pitching was a big reason why both Connellsville and Seneca Valley reached the WPIAL baseball playoffs.

The Falcons were good in that department Thursday afternoon, but the Raiders had Cory Greiner.

The senior left-hander delivered a gem, throwing a five-hit shutout in a 2-0 defeat of Connellsville in a Class 6A first-round meeting at Fox Chapel High School.

“Cory understands that he's not going to strike every guy out,” said Raiders' coach Eric Semega. “They (Falcons) put some good swings on the ball today, but Cory was on. Even when he threw a ball, it was right at the glove. It didn't move.”

Connellsville (10-9) managed no more than one hit in any inning. Its last gasp came in the top of the seventh when the Falcons' Jarett Cope walked with one out, bringing the tying run to the plate.

But Greiner, as he did all day, buckled down. He struck out D.J. Farkas and got Cole Shearer to fly out to deep center to end the game.

SV center fielder Josh McLean was still moving toward the fence when he made the catch.

“Down to our last strike, this was a team that never felt we were out of a game this season,” said Connellsville coach Rob Orndorff. “It showed today. Cole drills that pitch to the gap. If it gets down, we have a different ball game.”

Though not as impressive as Greiner, Falcons' pitcher Gage Gillott pitched well. He held the Raiders to five hits and forced SV to strand four runners in scoring position, including two at third base.

SV (13-6) broke the ice in the bottom of the third. Mark Trotta led off the frame with a base hit, moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on Greiner's sacrifice bunt. He scored on Cameron Vozel's groundout.

“We're not a great hitting team,” said Semega, “but I thought we had great approaches at the plate. We have to produce runs; bunt, steal, do whatever it takes to get runs across.”

Drew Robertson and Gabe Lawson padded SV's lead with back-to-back doubles in the fourth inning. That would be all the offense the Raiders would manage, but more than enough for Greiner, who struck out eight and walked just one.

The Falcons threatened in the top of the fourth when Cope laced a double to right-center. He tried to stretch the hit into a triple and was tagged out short of third base following a rundown.

“On offense, I thought it was an even effort by both teams,” said Orndorff. “Seneca Valley was just able to string some things together.”

Greiner would allow just one hit over the final three innings and finished the game with 86 pitches.

“I mostly stayed with my fastball and knuckleball,” he said. “I'd done well the last few starts and felt good coming in.

“To have this kind of game to help us extend our season, it feels awesome.”

The Raiders will face third-seeded Bethel Park in the quarterfinals at a site, time and date to be determined.

Connellsville 000 000 0 — 0 5 0

Seneca Valley 001 100 x — 2 5 0

W: Cory Greiner 7 IP (8K, 1BB). L: Gage Gillott 6 IP (0K, 0BB).

Connellsville (10-9): Austin Petraglia 2-1B, Gage Gillott 1B, Jarett Cope 2B, D.J. Farkas 1B

Seneca Valley (13-6): Mark Trotta 2-1B R, Cameron Vozel RBI, Drew Robertson 1B 2B R, Gabe Lawson 2B RBI

Next: Seneca Valley vs. Bethel Park, WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinal; site, time and date TBD