No rust
Lady Mikes shake off long layoff, romp over Serra Catholic
CANONSBURG – Bailey Barnyak struck out 13 batters to lead unbeaten Carmichaels to a 9-0 shutout of Serra Catholic in their WPIAL Class A quarterfinal playoff game Monday at North Strabane Intermediate School.
With his team having not played a meaningful game for 11 days and facing a tough pitcher in the Lady Eagles’ Kelly Morrissey, Carmichaels coach Dave Briggs wondered how long it would take his team to get going offensively.
“(Morrissey) is a pretty good pitcher but we are an offensive team,” he said. “We have seen good pitching, but this is our first (playoff) game and we haven’t played for over a week.
“There is always that little bit of a worry. I felt getting a couple runs early in the game helped a little bit.”
Kaitlyn Waggett led off with a triple for Carmichaels, and Carys McConnell singled her in two batters later.
Barnyak singled in McConnell to make the score 2-0, and that was more than enough run support as Barnyak was grooving early.
“She was really strong early in the game and she was a gamer,” said Briggs. “I thought she did a great job.”
The junior was dominant early as she struck out eight batters into the fourth inning before a freak injury limited her the rest of the way.
“(The game) started out really good and I felt super sharp. Every pitch was working pretty good. I think it was the fourth inning, and my catcher threw the ball (back) to the side of me, and I reached out and tried to catch it (barehanded) and stubbed my finger,” Barnyak said while laughing at herself.
“So, for the last three or four innings, I was dealing with a stoved finger. I was throwing 25 miles (per hour) less, but it ended up working out for me and I am very thankful for that.
“I knew I could do that because of the team I had behind me. They definitely had my back today and I couldn’t be more thankful for them.”
The Lady Mikes (14-0) pulled away from Serra (13-6) in the fourth inning as they scored four runs.
Carmichaels only had one hit in the frame, but it took advantage of three Lady Eagles errors in an inning that also saw the Lady Mikes called out for leaving early from first base and also having a questionable call go against them at the plate.
The ball never left the infield in the frame, and the lone hit was an RBI bunt single by Duski Staggers.
“I thought we did a good job tonight with the short game, putting the ball in play, and putting pressure on them,” Briggs said. “I thought that was the key, to put pressure on their defense.”
The Lady Mikes closed the scoring with three runs in the sixth as Ashton Batis and McConnell had RBI singles in the frame after Waggett brought a run in with a fielder’s choice.
Staggers and Payton Plavi led the way for Carmichaels with two singles each.
Barnyak spoke about the long layoff and how the team and staff were ready.
“It was definitely hard,” she said of the stretch without games. “We had a week and a half or two off.
“I think we were ready for today and definitely prepared well for it.”
Carmichaels faces rival West Greene, the third seed, in the semifinals Wednesday at Pleasant Valley Elementary School in the Peters Township School District with a 6 p.m. start. The Lady Mikes defeated the Lady Pioneers twice during the regular season.
The pair, along with fifth-seeded Jefferson Morgan (9-6), give Section 2-A three of the four Class A semifinalists, and the fact wasn’t lost on Briggs.
“That’s good for the county,” he said of the three Class 2A teams all being from Greene County. “We knew our section was tough.
“I thought that might happen, but you never know.”
Jefferson-Morgan takes on top-seeded Union (16-2) in the other semifinal.