With the season on the line, John Anthony Pizzi delivered for the Wayne Valley baseball team.

Pizzi's two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth broke up a tie game and the top-seeded Indians went on to defeat Memorial of West New York, 4-1, in the sectional semifinals of North 1, Group IV. Wayne Valley will host either Randolph or Belleville in Friday's section final.

Pizzi's big blast made a winner of Mike Elia, who also came up clutch for Valley. With the rain scrambling the schedule, the Indians' top two pitchers were unavailable for this game. But Elia threw like an ace, firing a five-hitter, and also drove in an insurance run in the sixth inning with a triple to center field.

Elia squared off with Memorial's Steve Acosta, who allowed only one run over the first five innings, on an RBI double by Anthony Simone in the fourth. It stayed 1-0 until Mario Palos led off the top of the sixth with a mammoth home run to left, setting the stage for Pizzi's heroics.

Wayne Valley bounced back from its loss in the Passaic County tournament on Monday to improve to 22-6. Memorial, the section's 12th seed, ends its season at 13-12.

For sports video highlights of this baseball state tournament game, click play in the box at left.