Playoff preview goes to Mikes
Carmichaels pitcher Brandon Lawless struck out five batters and didn’t issue a walk during the Mikes’ 5-4 win over Section 1-A rival California yesterday afternoon. Lawless also drove in a run with an infield single in the second inning.
Above, Josh Mundell, Carmichaels’ center fielder and leadoff hitter, went 3-for-3 with two runs scored during Tuesday’s 5-4 win over visiting California. He also had a sacrifice bunt in the sixth inning. At right, Carmichaels pitcher Brandon Lawless struck out five batters and didn’t issue a walk. Lawless also drove in a run with an infield single in the second inning.
CARMICHAELS – The Carmichaels baseball team might play 10 games in Section 1-A, but don’t expect junior Brandon Lawless to treat them all equally.
Especially not when the Mikes play California, the WPIAL Class A runner-up a year ago.
With the Trojans in town Tuesday afternoon, Lawless matched the playoff-like atmosphere with seven strong innings, the Mikes pounded out 14 hits, and Carmichaels gutted out a 5-4 victory to gain the first bit of separation in what figures to be a tight section race.
“It feels great,” said Lawless, who struck out five and didn’t walk a batter. “It feels like there are better things to come, and this is just the beginning.”
The win helped Carmichaels improve to 4-0 in section play, 7-1 overall.
It also extended the Mikes’ winning streak to five, though head coach Scott VanSickle isn’t ready to toss this one in the same category as lopsided victories over Avella and West Greene, the team’s two most recent wins by a combined score of 32-7.
“It was actually fun,” VanSickle said. “It was one of those games you really enjoy, because some of the other games you play don’t have that ‘It’ factor.”
Center fielder Josh Mundell and catcher Mike Blasinsky had three hits apiece, and Mundell scored twice – in the first and second innings, as Carmichaels built a 4-1 lead after two.
Third baseman Ryan Zalar, left fielder Tommy Shoaf and first baseman Justin Newman each added two hits.
“It came down to hitting the ball,” Mundell said. “We hit the ball. We both made errors, but we came through at the plate.”
Which, at times, didn’t’ take long: Of Carmichaels’ 14 hits, six of them came on the first pitch.
“The ball was there,” Mundell said matter-of-factly. “So we hit it.”
The first four Carmichaels batters singled to start the first inning, with Blasinsky and Shoaf driving in runs. Overall, that group finished 10-for-13 with four RBI and four runs scored.
“They did an excellent job of sitting back on a lot of offspeed stuff, not trying to do too much and hitting base knocks up the middle,” California coach Don Hartman said. “They were very smart at the plate.”
Ronnie Baron singled up the middle to score Aaron Previsky and cut the lead in half, but Carmichaels tacked on two more in the second behind Shoaf’s bases loaded single to left and a Lawless squibber between second and first.
Blasinsky’s single in the sixth gave Carmichaels some insurance, which turned out to be important because California scored twice in the top of the seventh on a groundout from right fielder Robbie DeFranco and a single from second baseman Josh Luko.
Lawless fielded a come-backer to end the game, a sparkling seven innings that VanSickle was counting on.
“Brandon’s our man,” VanSickle said. “You can print it, say it, however you want. He’s our man. That’s who we go to. We lean on him, and he threw a good game.
“He gave up a couple hits here and there. Couple spots he missed a few times when he was a little too juiced up, but it’s California.
“That’s the kind of game it is, and we expected that from him.”
Just like these teams expected a gem, one with two runners thrown out at home, a pair of slick double plays, a botched suicide squeeze and just about everything to make for an exciting 101 minutes.
“Both teams made some phenomenal plays to get themselves out of some big innings,” Hartman said. “This was a great baseball game. I don’t think we could have done more to win … or them. I can’t wait to play them again.”