Mikes romp over Carlynton, 9-1
McMURRAY 鈥� It took a while for Carmichaels鈥檚 baseball team to settle in after a protracted layoff. But once the rust was knocked off, the runs began to come.
The Mikes scored four runs each in the fourth and fifth innings and breezed to a 9-1 victory over Carlyton in the first round of the WPIAL Class A playoffs on May 14 at Peterswood Park. The win moved eighth-seeded Carmichaels into a matchup against top-seeded Union on Monday.
The Mikes, who advanced out of the first round of the WPIAL playoffs for the seventh consecutive season, won championships in 2003, 2005 and 2008.
鈥淲e were so rusty,鈥� said Carmichaels coach Dickie Krause. 鈥淲e were supposed to play Burgettstown Thursday but it got rained out. We had a scrimmage with Chartiers-Houston Tuesday and didn鈥檛 play it. So we hadn鈥檛 seen live pitching since last Monday.鈥�
Through three innings, Carlynton starting pitcher Eric Firle was throwing a no-hitter but Carmichaels was leading 1-0.
Carlynton tied the game 1-1 on an error by catcher Grayson Harvey.
Whatever chance Carlynton (12-10) had of winning the game dissipated in the fourth and fifth innings. Carmichaels scored eight runs on just six hits and three Carlynton errors.
In the fourth, Robbie Wilson-Jones drove in two runs with a single to center field. Dom Colarusso drove in one with a sacrifice fly and Dayton Reynolds came in on a double from Mikes starting pitcher Liam Lohr.
鈥淥nce we had that big inning, I was much more comfortable out there.,鈥� said Lohr. 鈥淭hey had the bases loaded (in the third inning) and that was the turning point for me.鈥�
In the fifth inning, Colarusso drove in two runs with a smash to right field. Ambrose Anderson scored on an error and Nathaniel Beringo came home after getting hit with the bases loaded.