Mikes renew playoff rivalry with Crusaders
When the WPIAL baseball pairings were released on Friday, Carmichaels coach Dickie Krause saw a familiar foe on the line below his team.
The Mikes (13-4) were given the No. 6 seed and are matched up against No. 11 Bishop Canevin (9-6) at Beth-Center 缅北禁地 Complex on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
鈥淐armichaels and Canevin have a history against each other in the playoffs,鈥� Krause pointed out. 鈥淚 coached against them once in 1998 when we lost to them in the second round.鈥�
That was during Krause鈥檚 first stint as coach of Carmichaels. The two teams have met three more times in the WPIAL Class A playoffs since that 8-4 Canevin quarterfinal win.
Carmichaels drubbed the Crusaders, 10-0 in five innings, in the 2003 championship game, giving coach Dave Bates and the Mikes the first of their three titles.
Carmichaels defeated Canevin, 7-1, in the 2005 quarterfinals on its way to its second title.
The Crusaders got the better of the Mikes in the 2006 quarterfinals, however, 4-2.
Now they鈥檒l meet again in the postseason for the fifth time in the last 20 years.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great first-round match-up not only because of our history against each other but because I think both teams mirror each other this year,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淟ike us, their top pitcher is a sophomore, they have a lot of young players and they had a better second half of the season.鈥�
Canevin began the year with three straight losses but has gone 9-3 since then, while Carmichaels has won seven of its last eight.
鈥淲hat they do is comparable to what we do,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淭here are a lot of parallels.
鈥淵ou have two teams that have a pretty long history of success.鈥�
The Mikes will use a combination of sophomore Matthew Barrish and freshman Logan Mayhle on the mound against the Crusaders, according to Krause.
鈥淥ur pitching has been pretty solid despite being very young. Our top four are two sophomores and two freshmen. In the last eight games we鈥檝e pitched pretty well.鈥�
The Mikes have pitched well all season actually, having limited their opponents to four or fewer runs in 12 of their 17 games. This despite returning only two starters from last year鈥檚 team.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a great group of kids who have worked really hard,鈥� Krause said.
WHO ARE THESE GUYS?
While teams in the higher classifications may deploy many scouts to take a look at other teams, local squads don鈥檛 seem to worry much about that practice.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 have a high-priced scouting crew that goes out and checks everyone out,鈥� West Greene softball coach Billy Simms said with a chuckle. 鈥淭o say I know everything about the teams outside our section, I鈥檇 be lying.鈥�
Simms banks on the past more than anything else.
鈥淚 do know that Leechburg has a quality program with a storied history so you know they鈥檙e going to be good,鈥� Simms said.
Logistics creates a problem with scouting, according to Carmichaels softball coach Dave Briggs.
鈥淭he other teams and sections are so far away from here that there鈥檚 not much familiarity with them, or even common opponents,鈥� said Briggs, who is more worried about his own team that his opponent. 鈥淚 think we鈥檙e trending in the right direction. We鈥檙e really hitting the ball well and playing solid defensively. If we do those two things well we鈥檒l be a formidable team in the playoffs no matter who we play.鈥�
The Lady Pioneers and Lady Mikes play no one in the first round as the top two seeds in Class 1-A both received byes into the quarterfinals.
THE RIGHT MIX
Coaches usually stress excelling in all three phases of the game in the playoffs, that being hitting, pitching and defense.
Playoff teams usually sport a nice balance of all three but some coaches are still trying to get the right mix.
Connellsville softball coach John Burd would like to see his team鈥檚 bats come alive.
鈥淚 think pitching and defensively, we鈥檙e playing real well right now although I鈥檇 like to pick it up a little bit hitting-wise, maybe get back to the way we were hitting early in the year,鈥� Burd said. 鈥淚f we can do that, I like our chances against anybody.鈥�
Hitting is not a problem for Albert Gallatin鈥檚 softball team, though.
鈥淔or us, it鈥檚 a hitters鈥� game,鈥� said Lady Colonials coach Gary Serock, who guided AG into the postseason for the first time since 1996. 鈥淲hen we get out bats rolling we can compete with anybody. Hitting is our bread and butter.鈥�
Albert Gallatin can certainly bring the lumber. Freshman Annalia Paoli has 12 home runs and is hitting .526. Allyn Bezjak is also hitting over .500 and has six home runs.
All the run support is a boost to the Lady Colonials鈥� two starting pitchers, Maddie Flowers and Maddy Hershberger.
鈥淲ith those two, now we鈥檙e pretty strong in every area,鈥� Serock said.
Simms believe, in addition to the three key phases, you have to have the right balance mentally, too. His Lady Pioneers are young but also experienced.
鈥淚 think you have to have a sense of urgency along with level-headedness,鈥� Simms said. 鈥淲e have a lot of kids who are 鈥榖een there, done that,鈥� with last year鈥檚 playoffs and even this year with the success of our girls basketball team.
鈥淪till, you want to be calm, but not too calm.鈥�