May 1, 2026 By Jonathan Guth 3 min read

CARMICHAELS — Bailey Barnyak walked the first batter she faced in Carmichaels’ non-section game against Brownsville on Friday as the Mikes were celebrating Senior Day.

The Mikes’ senior ace didn’t walk any more while striking out 13 and limiting the Falcons to two hits in a 6-0 victory.

The game featured two of the top strikeout pitchers in the WPIAL, as Barnyak’s pitching opponent was PennWest California commit Ava Clark. Both squads are headed to the WPIAL playoffs, as Carmichaels (14-3) is in the Class A bracket and Brownsville (9-7) will battle for the title in Class 2A.

Barnyak and Clark entered the contest with more than 1,500 combined strikeouts in their careers, as Barnyak checked in with 810 and Clark was sitting at 701. Barnyak’s mother, Nikki Gasti Onderko, who is an assistant on coach Dave Briggs’ staff, is the all-time leader in strikeouts at Carmichaels with 850.

“I really can’t go anywhere when it comes to softball when all my mom’s accomplishments are brought up, but it is also really nice,” Barnyak said. “It is a really cool thing, but it will be even cooler when I beat her record. We have to take it one step at a time, but we want to go out with a bang this season.”

Clark battled through her four innings, and despite taking the loss, allowed just one earned run on five hits. She had six strikeouts.

Brownsville coach Jane Bock removed Clark for Lena Rechichar, who threw the final two innings.

Barnyak and Clark pitched two scoreless innings before the Mikes broke through in the third for two runs, as the home team took advantage of a break for a 2-0 lead.

Avery Voithofer singled on a line drive to center field to lead off the frame, and with two outs, Clark appeared to escape the inning unscathed with a strikeout, but the ball was dropped into the dirt and Carys McConnell sprinted to first base to keep the inning alive. Voithofer advanced to third on the play.

McConnell stole second, and she and Voithofer raced home on Kenlee Machesky’s base hit to right field.

“We were able to take advantage of that dropped third strike and Kenlee got the big hit,” Briggs said. “I was really glad to get this game in. We wanted to face a solid team to help us prepare for the playoffs.”

The home team pushed its advantage to 3-0 in the fourth when Joselyn Carter tripled and scored on Payton Plavi’s sacrifice bunt.

“We were able to get some good fortune and turn that into two runs, but we also had some other big hits, which isn’t surprising because I know my team always has my back,” Barnyak said.

Carmichaels added three runs in the fifth on McConnell’s two-run home run to center field and Giana Colarusso’s run-scoring single.

Machesky followed McConnell’s homer with a single, and courtesy runner Kaitlyn Kramer stole second, advanced to third on a groundout to the pitcher before scoring on Colarusso’s base hit.

“Carys coming up with a big hit like that is nothing new for her,” Briggs said. “She has been doing that all four years.”