Behind Barnyak, Carmichaels rolls into semifinals
By Rob Burchianti
For the Observer-Reporter
McKEES ROCKS – Bailey Barnyak pondered but couldn’t quite put her finger on which pitch was working best for her on Thursday.
“It was a solid day all around,” Carmichaels’ sophomore pitcher said. “Everything seemed to be working pretty good. It’s a great day when that happens.”
Not for the opponent.
Barnyak fired a one-hitter with 14 strikeouts as the second-seeded Mikes blanked seventh-seeded South Side Beaver 7-0 in a WPIAL Class A softball quarterfinal game at Montour High School.
Barnyak got plenty of offensive support, most notably from Carys McConnell, who was 4-for-4 with an RBI, and Kaitlyn Wagget who drove in three runs with a triple and a single.
The Mikes (15-2) also got a double, single and an RBI from Megan Voithofer and two hits and an RBI from Ali Jacobs.
Carmichaels advances into next week’s semifinals for the second year in a row where it will face a familiar opponent in third-seeded Chartiers-Houston. The Mikes and Bucs split two regular-season games – one a suspended marathon that lasted 17 innings – and tied for the Section 2-A title.
“I’m really happy to get to play them again,” McConnell said. “We have such great battles.”
Barnyak came out on fire, striking out the first six batters and 10 of the first 11. She mixed her pitches well, keeping the Rams (13-5) off-balance all game.
Barnyak said she felt comfortable throwing any pitch at any time in the count.
“It’s rare when you get that but when you do you know it’s going to be a pretty good day,” Barnyak said.
“Bailey was really tough today,” Carmichaels coach Dave Briggs said. “Then when we needed to make plays in the field we did it.
Carmichaels received a first-round bye and hadn’t played in 10 days, which had Briggs a bit concerned.
“You worry about rust but we did get one scrimmage in,” Briggs said. “But I thought we played really well today. We were pretty sharp.”
McConnell showed she was ready to go in the first inning. The Mikes went up 1-0 when she singled to left, stole second and scored on Voithofer’s single to right.
“We were practicing hard all week and were excited to get on the field,” McConnell said.
Rams pitcher Maya Ringhoff was able to keep Carmichaels off the scoreboard the next two innings, leaving the Mikes with a precarious one-run lead.
The Mikes stranded the bases loaded in the first inning, left a runner on third in the second and left two more on in the third thanks to a diving catch by second baseman Giovonna Chiccarello of Payton Plavi’s looping line drive.
“They made three or four fantastic defensive plays that kept them in the game for a while,” Briggs said. “Then we were finally able to get a few more runs across to give us a little more of a cushion.”
That happened in the fourth inning when Carmichaels put up four more runs.
Avery Voithofer reached on an error to start the rally, took second on Duski Staggers’ sacrifice bunt, went to third on Sydney Miller’s ground out and came home on Waggett’s single to center.
After Barnyak walked, McConnell and Jacobs delivered back-to-back RBI singles and McConnell also scored when Jacobs’ hit was misplayed in the outfield.
Briggs marveled at McConnell’s perfect day at the plate and her fielding at shortstop.
“She’s just a great player,” Briggs said. “I’ve been saying all along I don’t think there’s a better player in single-A. She’s so smooth in the field, she’s a great hitter, she has great power, she has speed. She has all the tools.”
The Mikes capped the game’s scoring in the fifth inning on Waggett’s two-run triple.
The only drama left at that point was if Barnyak could throw a no-hitter. She took a perfect game into the fifth when Madison Morrow drew a one-out walk, and the no-hit bid was broken up with two outs in the sixth on Allison DeLong’s clean single to center.
“It really wasn’t that big of a deal, I’m just happy we won the game,” Barnyak said. “I’m proud of my teammates.”
Barnyak commended catcher Waggett particularly.
“We just work so well together,” Barnyak said.