In control: Barnyak fires 1-hit gem as Lady Mikes roll into semifinals
McKEES ROCKS 鈥� Bailey Barnyak pondered but couldn鈥檛 quite put her finger on which pitch was working best for her.
鈥淚t was a solid day all around,鈥� Carmichaels鈥� sophomore pitcher said. 鈥淓verything seemed to be working pretty good. It鈥檚 a great day when that happens.鈥�
Not for the opponent.
Barnyak fired a one-hitter with 14 strikeouts as the second-seeded Lady Mikes blanked seventh-seeded South Side Beaver 7-0 in a WPIAL Class A softball quarterfinal playoff game at Montour High School on May 16.
Barnyak got plenty of offensive support, most notably from Carys McConnell, who was 4 for 4 with an RBI, and Kaitlyn Wagget who drove in three runs with a triple and a single.
The Lady Mikes (15-2) also got a double, single and an RBI from Megan Voithofer and two hits and an RBI from Ali Jacobs.
Carmichaels advanced into Wednesday鈥檚 semifinals for the second year in a row where it faced a familiar opponent in third-seeded Chartiers-Houston. The Mikes and Bucs split two regular-season games 鈥� one a suspended marathon that lasted 17 innings 鈥� and tied for the Section 2-A title.
鈥淚鈥檓 really happy to get to play them again,鈥� McConnell said. 鈥淲e have such great battles.鈥�
Barnyak came out on fire, striking out the first six batters and 10 of the first 11. She mixed her pitches well, keeping the Lady Rams (13-5) off-balance all game.
Barnyak said she felt comfortable throwing any pitch in her arsenal at any time in the count.
鈥淚t鈥檚 rare when you get that but when you do you know it鈥檚 going to be a pretty good day,鈥� Barnyak said.
鈥淏ailey was really tough today,鈥� Carmichaels coach Dave Briggs said. 鈥淭hen when we needed to make plays in the field we did it.鈥�
Carmichaels received a first-round bye and hadn鈥檛 played in 10 days, which had Briggs a bit concerned.
鈥淵ou worry about rust but we did get one scrimmage in,鈥� Briggs said. 鈥淏ut I thought we played really well today. We were pretty sharp.鈥�
McConnell showed she was ready to go in the first inning. The Mikes went up 1-0 when she singled to left, stole second and scored on Voithofer鈥檚 single to right.
鈥淲e were practicing hard all week and were excited to get on the field,鈥� McConnell said.
Lady Rams pitcher Maya Ringhoff was able to keep Carmichaels off the scoreboard the next two innings, leaving the Lady Mikes with a precarious one-run lead.
Carmichaels stranded the bases loaded in the first inning, left a runner on third in the second and left two more on in the third thanks to a diving catch by second baseman Giavonna Chiccarello of Payton Plavi鈥檚 looping line drive.
鈥淭hey made three or four fantastic defensive plays that kept them in the game for a while,鈥� Briggs said. 鈥淭hen we were finally able to get a few more runs across to give us a little more of a cushion.鈥�
That happened in the fourth inning when Carmichaels put up four runs.
Avery Voithofer reached on an error to start the rally, took second on Duski Staggers鈥� sacrifice bunt, went to third on Sydney Miller鈥檚 ground out and came home on Waggett鈥檚 single to center.
After Barnyak walked, McConnell and Jacobs delivered back-to-back RBI singles and McConnell also scored when Jacobs鈥� hit was misplayed in the outfield.
Briggs marveled at McConnell鈥檚 perfect day at the plate and her fielding at shortstop.
鈥淪he鈥檚 just a great player,鈥� Briggs said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been saying all along I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 a better player in single-A. She鈥檚 so smooth in the field, she鈥檚 a great hitter, she has great power, she has speed. She has all the tools.鈥�
The Mikes capped the game鈥檚 scoring in the fifth inning on Waggett鈥檚 two-run triple.
The only drama left at that point was if Barnyak could throw a no-hitter. She took a perfect game into the fifth when Madison Morrow drew a one-out walk, and the no-hit bid was broken up with two outs in the sixth on Allison DeLong鈥檚 clean single to center.
The only other base runner Barnyak allowed was a walk to Chiccarello following DeLong鈥檚 hit.
Barnyak didn鈥檛 display any emotion after giving up the single.
鈥淚t really wasn鈥檛 that big of a deal, I鈥檓 just happy we won the game,鈥� Barnyak said. 鈥淚鈥檓 proud of my teammates.鈥�
Barnyak commended catcher Waggett particularly.
鈥淲e just work so well together,鈥� Barnyak said.
鈥淲e work through summer, winter and fall together,鈥� Waggett said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e on the same travel team. She鈥檚 like family to me.
鈥淪he threw a great game today. She always does.鈥�