Kinsell, Blasinsky team up in Carmichaels’ victory
Carmichaels' third baseman Bill Bowlen tags out Sewickley Academy's Drew Johnson at third base during Tuesday's playoff game.
Carmichaels’ Blake Conrad (6) gets a few high fives from his teammates after scoring in the fifth inning against Sewickley Academy.
Carmichaels’ Joel Spishock gets a fifth-inning base hit against Sewickley Academy during the Mikes’ WPIAL Class A playoff game Tuesday.
UPPER ST. CLAIR – Jacob Kinsell and Michael Blasinsky have been mighty consistent for the Carmichaels High School baseball team.
Against Sewickley Academy in the first round of the WPIAL Class A playoffs Tuesday, Kinsell continued his stingy ways on the mound and Blasinsky delivered a big hit that broke open a close game and sent 10th-seeded Carmichaels to a 6-1 victory over the seventh-seeded Panthers at Upper St. Clair’s Mayview Field.
Kinsell, a junior, came within one out of a shutout and Blasinsky, a senior, laced a two-run double in Carmichaels’ three-run fifth inning.
The hit by Blasinsky, Carmichaels’ No. 3 hitter, came with the Mikes leading 1-0 and Darren Krause on second base and Joel Spishock on first base. The line drive into the left-centerfield gap bounced and eluded the outstretched arm of left fielder Adam Snyder, then rolled toward the wall, allowing two runs to score.
“Michael Blasinsky has been as good as any Class A player,” Carmichaels coach Richard Krause said of his team’s top hitter. “That was a big hit.”
It also was all the offensive support Kinsell needed. Though his coach said Kinsell did not have his normal velocity on his fastball, the right-hander threw a complete-game eight-hitter and pitched out of several jams to keep a shutout intact until two outs in the bottom of the seventh.
“He’s learning how to be a pitcher,” Krause said. “Jacob had nothing today that resembled his A-stuff. His velocity was down a bit, but what he did was mix in his changeup. He got out of every tough spot. With six days off, I’m sure he’ll be much better next week.”
That’s when Carmichaels (13-3) plays again, against second-seeded Greensburg Central Catholic, an 11-1 winner in five innings over Riverview. The game is set for Monday at a site and time to be determined.
Sewickley Academy (9-7) could get ’em on and get ’em over, but the Panthers couldn’t get ’em in until the seventh. The Panthers had eight hits but left 12 runners on base, including at least one in every inning. The Panthers did not have a two-out hit until the sixth inning, and that came with the bases empty.
“That has been our problem all year,” said Sewickley Academy coach Andrew Heck, who was an outfielder the last two years with the Washington Wild Things.
“This was disappointing from the offensive side. Give their pitcher credit, he kept us off balance.”
Kinsell struck out four, but two of those came in perhaps the two most important at-bats of the game. Trailing 1-0, Sewickley Academy loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the second inning. Kinsell worked out of the jam by getting two strikeouts, each on a called third strike.
Carmichaels also escaped major trouble in the fourth, when SA had a leadoff double and one-out single but ended the inning with no runs and no baserunners in scoring position. Drew Johnson hit the first of his two doubles then tried to advance when Joey Straka hit a bouncer back to Kinsell. The Carmichaels pitcher alertly threw to third base and Johnson was an easy out. Following a Stephen Klemash single, Mikes third baseman Bill Bowlen made a leaping catch on a looper hit by Martin Tancer and doubled Straka off second base.
“I’m an offensive-minded coach and try to make things happen, but I wasn’t happy with our pitch selection with runners in scoring position,” Heck said. “We get a leadoff double and then swing at the first pitch and hit a nubber back to the pitcher. That’s a tough play to judge, but we make a mental error on the bases.”
Carmichaels broke the game open in the next half inning on Blasinsky’s two-run double plus two SA errors on a ground ball that allowed Blasinsky to score and make it a 4-0 game.
The Mikes added two insurance runs in the seventh as Bowlen’s single drove in Reed Long, and Joel Spishock scored on Jacob Wamsley’s sacrifice fly. Spishock was one of three Mikes with two hits. Wamsley gave Carmichaels a 1-0 lead in the first inning when his single off Sewickley Academy starter Joe Nagel scored Bowlen.
The Panthers avoided the shutout with two outs in the seventh. Johnson doubled off the base of the wall in right centerfield, scoring John Nagel from second base.
“You never go into a season keeping your expectations low, but we have only one player (Blasinsky) who started all of last season,” Krause said. “These guys have bought into everything. I’m really proud of them.”