May 19, 2015 3 min read

McKEES ROCKS – It was the Tristan Voss Show at Lind Park in Fairhaven Park Tuesday afternoon in the WPIAL Class AA softball quarterfinals.

Voss struck out 12 batters and allowed only one hit to propel undefeated No. 2 seed Mohawk to a 5-1 win against No. 7 Carmichaels.

“All year long, Tristan has been very strong for us,” Warriors coach Brad Hruska said. “It was nice to see her come through with that bat as well. She did a great job (in the circle). We were still struggling a little bit with the walks but we will fix that for our next game.”

From the start, Carmichaels (14-4) struggled to put the ball in play with eight of the first nine batters striking out.

“She was hitting her spots,” Hruska said. “That is what we were focused on. That was the main thing. We always preach to play with the lead and that means to get ahead in the count.”

Voss was hitting her spots, even when the target was outside of the strike zone.

“I think she was effectively wild,” Carmichaels coach Dave Briggs said. “Our pitch selection wasn’t great. That was the biggest problem. We haven’t struck out that many times all year.

“We just didn’t do it offensively. I don’t know if it was the jitters or the nerves. We didn’t do it at the plate at all.”

Even with the offensive struggles, Carmichaels senior pitcher Erica Burns kept her team in the game.

Burns and Voss battled pitch-for-pitch until the third inning, when Voss used her bat to get the best of her counterpart. Voss delivered a two-run single giving the Warriors a 2-0 lead. The runs proved to be all Voss and Mohawk would need.

“I think she was good,” Briggs said of Burns. “She had good command and good speed on the ball. It just came down to our offense.”

The Mikes’ lone threat came in the top of the fourth. Their lone run crossed the plate on a bases-loaded walk by Katie Mays, but Mohawk cut short a potential big inning by Carmichaels. Voss struck out the next two batters and caught a baserunner in a rundown to get out of the jam.

“We have to put the ball in play and at least have them field it,” Hruska said. “We have been having trouble with the big inning all year. We chip away, but we haven’t had enough clutch hits in a row. I thought it would take four or five runs to win this game.”

The Warriors tacked on three runs in the bottom of the fifth to put the game out of reach.

Burns had the the only hit of the game for Carmichaels in the sixth inning.

Mohawk (15-0) advances to the semifinals and will play Seton-La Salle.

“They deserve all the credit,” Hruska said. “They worked so hard this year. We are not ready to be done.”

For the second year in a row, Carmichaels lost in the quarterfinals. Last year it was in Class A. The Mikes moved up in classification this year and won a section title.

The loss ends the high school career of Carmichaels seniors Caroline Cree, Emma Lewis, Burns and Mays.

“I feel for the seniors,” Briggs said. “I am going to miss them. I like the way they played. I enjoyed watching them for four years and they have been extremely successful.”