Carmichaels hangs on; mistakes break Waynesburg
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter Carmichaels’ pitcher Jacob Kinsell during a game with Waynesburg at Consol Energy Park Thursday, March 31, 2016.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter Waynesburgs pitcher Hunter Robinson during a game with Carmichaels at Consol Energy Park Thursday, March 31, 2016.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter Waynesburg’s Jacob Phillips steals 3rd base as Carmichaels’ Jake Wamsley is late with the tag during a game at Consol Energy Park. Thursday, March 31, 2016.
Carmichaels catcher Colin Reynolds attempts to tag Waynesburg’s Hunter Robinson Thursday.
Observer-Reporter
Carmichaels’ coach Richard Krause, right, would cut down the number of playoff teams and make sure teams play an equal amount of section games.
When Scott VanSickle was the head coach at Carmichaels High School for four seasons, his teams made up for any weaknesses with a unique grittiness. It was that work ethic, plus an ace pitcher, that helped the Mikes reach the WPIAL title game and the PIAA quarterfinals during his last season, in 2014.
He resigned to become an assistant coach at Waynesburg University, and when he returned to WPIAL baseball to become the head coach at Waynesburg Central High School, he wanted to see those same blue-collar traits from his new players.
As VanSickle, who still teaches math at Carmichaels, sat on a stack of five-gallon buckets outside the first-base dugout at Consol Energy Park Thursday, he witnessed his former team use that same gritty determination to scratch and claw to a non-section win.
Waynesburg, meanwhile, made several mental mistakes and could not seem to string together enough hits against Carmichaels’ ace pitcher.
The Raiders made five critical baserunning mistakes and Carmichaels used a two-run fifth inning to secure a 4-1 win over its Greene County rival.
Waynesburg junior starting pitcher Hunter Robinson, who exited with two outs in the sixth inning after throwing 116 pitches, had 11 strikeouts and no walks, but his pitch count rose quickly as the Mikes (3-0) extended at-bats by fighting off inside pitches.
“I tell our guys that what I want us to be is what I had with those guys over there – be scrappy,” VanSickle said. “They fought off every single pitch and it kept going. Our two-strike approach stunk.”
The long at-bats began to add up. With a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, Carmichaels senior center fielder Reed Long, the No. 9 hitter in the Mikes’ order, hit a one-out single to right field. Junior first baseman Joel Spishock delivered an RBI-triple over the head of Waynesburg center fielder Colin McCracken. Spishock scored on a throwing error to third base.
The Mikes loaded the bases without a hit in the sixth, but Brandon Turcheck got the final out to end the threat.
“We’re pretty gritty,” Carmichaels head coach Richard Krause said with a grin. “We’re not really the most talented baseball team, but these kids work and they try really hard. You saw all of those at-bats – they’re hanging on to every pitch, fouling pitches off, we’re putting contact plays on. They just worked really hard. I’m thrilled.”
With Kinsell on the mound, a three-run lead proved to be enough. The senior righthander overcame five walks by striking out eight and he forced the Raiders (1-2) to strand two baserunners in the top of the seventh to clinch the win.
Waynesburg gave Kinsell plenty of help, too. The Raiders had a runner picked off at first base in the first inning; another was caught stealing third after his hand went off the bag; a squeeze play led to a runner thrown out at home; another was caught trying to steal home on a missed squeeze bunt and the Raiders had a player picked off at first base in the sixth. The Raiders also stranded five runners, had three passed balls and a wild pitch.
“You can’t get picked off every single time,” VanSickle said. “You tell them before the game that (Kinsell) has a nice (pickoff) move, but it doesn’t matter. They have a freshman catcher who is learning the position and you have time to take a base – make things happen. It was the little things, but hopefully we learn from it.”
Carmichaels freshman right fielder Matthew Barrish reached base safely on a dropped third strike with one out in the first inning, and the Mikes took a 1-0 lead after senior third baseman Jacob Wamsley tripled to left-centerfield on a full count.
Robinson, who allowed only one earned run, struck out seven of the next nine Carmichaels hitters, but the Mikes stretched the lead to two when Nick Mundell advanced two bases on a passed ball and scored on another moments later.
Waynesburg spoiled Kinsell’s shutout bid when McCracken stole home on a slow throw from freshman catcher Colin Reynolds to the mound with two outs in the fourth inning.
“We feel like we have a little chip on our shoulder,” Spishock said. “We’re the underdog, but people saw what we did in the first round of the playoffs last year and they expect us to be a playoff team again. We have to rise above it and play like we play.”
As his team prepares for Section 2-AA play, VanSickle said he’s looking to erase Thursday from his players’ memories, but the loss and the fashion in which it happened will make today difficult at work.
“Now I get to hear about it from (Krause) all summer,” VanSickle said. “I had to put my head down all day today and (Friday) will be even more fun. They’re a good group of guys. I’m happy for them.”