Mikes eye section title after win at C-H
Carmichaels鈥� Drake Long beats the throw at home to tie the game against Chartiers-Houston at the Allison Elementary School field on April 23. (Photo by Celeste Van Kirk)
Carmichaels鈥� Gavin Pratt throw against Chartiers-Houston at the Allison Elementary School field on Tuesday, April 23, 2019.
HOUSTON 鈥� Matt Barrish, Carmichaels鈥� pesky No. 2 hitter, is described by his coach as a 鈥減itch-count killer鈥� for his ability to work deep into counts, his knowledge of the strike zone and a penchant for fouling off tough pitches.
In the seventh inning of a Class 2-A Section 1 baseball showdown against Chartiers-Houston last Tuesday, Barrish stepped into the batter鈥檚 box with the score tied. He fouled off three tempting high fastballs 鈥� each barely getting over the fence that runs up the left-field line and falling harmlessly out of play.
When Barrish finally got a low fastball to hit, he wasn鈥檛 ruining the opponent鈥檚 pitch count 鈥� just Chartiers-Houston鈥檚 unblemished record in section play.
Barrish stroked a two-out, line-drive base hit to left centerfield that scored Drake Long from second base, capping Carmichaels鈥� two-run seventh inning and giving the Mikes a 2-1 come-from-behind victory.
The win moved Carmichaels into a first-place tie with Chartiers-Houston, both at 6-1 in the section.
鈥淢att has always been a good contact hitter,鈥� Carmichaels coach Richard Krause said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 been a good bunter, but this year he鈥檚 been crushing the ball out of the No. 2 hole in the lineup. He鈥檚 a pitch-count killer. Last year, he averaged 5.4 pitches per at-bat. You don鈥檛 see that in high school baseball.鈥�
Carmichaels (10-1 overall) entered the seventh inning trailing 1-0 and had only one hit 鈥� a clean single in the fourth inning by winning pitcher Gavin Pratt 鈥� off Chartiers-Houston starter Josh Colletti, who was terrific. However, Colletti, who walked four, had thrown 105 pitches and by rule had to be removed from the game after six innings.
鈥淚 really thought one run would be enough,鈥� Chartiers-Houston coach Vince Capozza said. 鈥淭he guys we pitched had been throwing the ball well.鈥�
Carmichaels got a seemingly harmless infield single by Zach Gamble to start the seventh against reliever Zack Baird. Gamble was bunted to second base by Al Cree and Long, the No. 9 hitter in the Mikes鈥� lineup, singled to right field to score Gamble and tie the score.
Dylan Wilson then flied out to right field, but the throw back to the infield went to first base instead of second and was wild, allowing Long to advance into scoring position. That set up Barrish鈥檚 game-winning hit, but not before fouling off three tough pitches.
鈥淭hose pitches were out and up and I couldn鈥檛 get on top of the ball. I was just trying to foul them off until I got something better to hit,鈥� Barrish explained. 鈥淭he last foul ball, I thought the left fielder might have a chance to catch it.鈥�
That one fell onto some rocks just outside the field of play, extending Barrish鈥檚 plate appearance and setting up his pivotal hit.
Pratt scattered seven hits over six innings and worked out of several tight spots to keep Carmichaels within striking distance. Barrish replaced him on the mound for the bottom of the seventh and the latter pitched a 1-2-3 inning for a save. First baseman Nick Ricco, playing deep and guarding the line, robbed C-H鈥檚 Jimmy Sadler of what could have been extra bases to start the bottom of the seventh, fielding a ground ball at the foul line and beating the speedy Sadler to the bag for the first out.
鈥淕etting Sadler to start the seventh was big,鈥� Krause said.
Chartiers-Houston (8-3) had its eight-game winning streak snapped. The Bucs took a 1-0 lead in the fifth when Sadler led off with an infield single, was bunted to second base by Alex Siege and scored when Destin Weiser doubled off the left-field fence with two outs.
The Bucs had seven hits but left eight runners on base, including the bases loaded in the first inning, and had another runner thrown out in a rundown in the fourth.
鈥淭his game was almost identical to the one we played against them a few weeks ago,鈥� Capozza said. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 execute on their field and we didn鈥檛 execute on our field.鈥�
Capozza was referring to Chartiers-Houston鈥檚 6-3 victory at Carmichaels on April 3. In that game, Carmichaels held a 2-1 lead in the seventh before the Bucs rallied for a 6-3 win.
鈥淭his evens the tables,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e right where we want to be. This is the second time in three games that we fell behind but these guys don鈥檛 quit.鈥�