Errors doom Mikes in first-round loss

STRATTANVILLE – It rained frequently Tuesday afternoon at Clarion-Limestone High School, including a 15-minute downpour prior to Carmichaels and Dubois Central Catholic beginning warmups for their PIAA Class AA first-round softball playoff game.
Lots of manpower, along several bags of diamond dry, made sure the game was going to be played despite less than ideal conditions.
The all-dirt infield didn’t have to last long as Dubois Central Catholic capitalized on nine Carmichaels errors to defeat the Mikes, 18-3, in four innings.
“I can tell they are better team than that,” DCC coach coach George Heigel said of Carmichaels. “We’ve scouted them and that’s a pretty good team. They just didn’t play up to their potential. Their nerves might have had something to do with it. It’s a well-coached team. They just booted the ball.”
Relying on hitting and defense to qualify as the third and final team to represent the WPIAL in Class A – each coming from Section 2 – Carmichaels (17-7) left its strong defense effort in Greene County.
The Mikes didn’t leave the bats behind – at least in the first inning – as Gina Ranieri drove home Megan Walker on a single to shallow left field. Morgan Faddis then doubled deep into the left centerfield gap to score two more runs and give Carmichaels a 3-0 lead heading to the bottom of the first inning.
“It was the perfect start,” Carmichaels coach Dave Briggs said. “We came out seeing the ball well. We came out hitting. That was the kind of start we needed. It’s how I envisioned us playing the whole game.”
In the bottom of the first inning, the hard-hitting Cardinals combined consecutive doubles to start with four Mikes errors that made the score 3-3.
The defense continued to fail Carmichaels freshman starting pitcher Kylie Sinn in the bottom of the second inning. After three of the first four Dubois Central Catholic batters reached on errors – two coming in to score on a wild pitch and a fielder’s choice – Heigel called on his bench to continue extending the lead. Carley Semancik ripped a two-run triple to right centerfield to put Dubois (22-1) and an RBI single up the middle from Maia Cogley gave the Cardinals a 10-3 lead.
“Giving up three runs in the first inning was dramatic because that hasn’t happened to us in a while. I don’t think this year at all,” Heigel said. “The first inning, I think, had a lot to do with the delays, field prep and our pitcher had to be warmed up twice.
“We were able to square up a bunch of balls. We hit some balls hard. We have a pretty solid lineup one through nine.”
The hot start from Carmichaels was the last threat it made. Only two batters reached base the rest of the game and neither got into scoring position.
While the Mikes’ bats faltered, Dubois continued the merry-go-round on the bases as hits and errors led to another three runs in the third inning to put DCC ahead 13-3.
Libby Maurer and Allysa Bittner drove in the final three runs, on consecutive singles, to end the game.
“The recipe for us has been hitting the ball and playing defense,” Briggs said. “We forgot the one, today. Fielding has been a strong suit for us all year. It’s shocking to me. You can’t give extra outs against a team like that. Throw in some mental errors and we’d be up to 15 (errors).”
Carmichaels’ four hits were spread throughout the lineup. The lone hit after the first inning was a single from Shelbee McCann in the second inning.
Eight of the starting nine for the Cardinals scored at least one run with Macy Hanes, Assalone, Ashley Wruble and Shay Gulvas each scoring three runs.
Dubois Central Catholic, which lost 5-2 to West Greene in last year’s PIAA semifinals.
“We honestly don’t talk about it,” Heigel said. “I might drop one of those lines and mention it, but that’s only happened twice all year. We aren’t taking any team lightly. We had to play good today. I’m real happy with the offensive effort. We aren’t thinking about the upcoming three games. We are only preparing for the next one.”