Carmichaels overtakes rival Chartiers-Houston to reach state softball final

By: Rebel Don

Monday June 10, 2024 | 6:32 p.m.

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WPIAL champion Chartiers-Houston was in complete control of its PIAA Class A semifinal against rival Carmichaels.

Until it wasn’t.

The Mighty Mikes took advantage of an uncharacteristic defensive collapse by the Buccaneers to tie the game, then got a double from sophomore Carys McConnell in the bottom of the seventh to win in thrilling fashion, 5-4, Monday at Peterswood Park . .

“I honestly thought they were going to come with me as soon as I got up,” McConnell said of his at-bat in the bottom of the seventh inning with sophomore Bailey Barnyak on first and two outs. “I thought it was going to go slightly over (the fence).

Instead, McConnell’s 3-0 fielder to right sailed over the right fielder’s head and ended up against the fence as Barnyak easily scored the run that capped a wild comeback and sent the Mighty Mikes at Penn State and the Class A state title game on Friday. Morning.

“I’ve been in some crazy games before, but not one as big as this one,” Carmichaels coach Dave Briggs said. “That’s the one thing about this team: They never give up. They play and don’t panic, and that’s how we’ve been all year.

It was the fourth meeting of the season between the Section 2-A co-champions. They split some close games during the regular season and Chartiers-Houston beat Carmichaels in the WPIAL semifinals, 3-2.

The fact that the match went to the end surprised no one. However, the way the game transformed after 4½ innings was stunning.

Chartiers-Houston was in total control until the end of the fifth round.

The Buccaneers scored a run in the top of the first on an RBI single by freshman Taryne Drilak that plated sophomore Lauren Rush, then added another run in the third inning when junior Meadow Ferri hit junior Ella Richey at home.

Chartiers-Houston extended its lead to 4-0 in the top of the fifth inning when Richey connected on a two-run homer to deep left-center field.

“I could tell we were getting a little down,” said Barnyak, the winning pitcher. “We got the team together and said, ‘Hey, look at the score.’ It’s okay. We can overcome this and we did.

Things went south quickly and painfully for the Bucs in the bottom of the fifth, and the Mighty Mikes were more than happy to take advantage.

Ferri walked freshman Avery Voithofer with one out before a sacrifice by junior Duski Staggers moved Voithofer to second base with two outs.

Carmichaels’ No. 9 hitter, senior Alyana Simon, attempted a base hit; however, what looked like a safe out was given up at first base, allowing Voithofer to score and the floodgates began to close.

Kaitlyn Waggett delivered the Mighty Mikes’ only hit of the inning with a single to put two up with Barnyak coming to the plate.

His ground ball to shortstop was tossed, allowing Simon to score, and when an overly aggressive Waggett also attempted to score, an out turned into a run when his slide home brought down the ball from the catcher’s glove.

Following an intentional walk to McConnell, a ground ball to second base by Ali Jacobs was thrown for the Bucs’ third error of the inning and the Mighty Mikes’ fourth run.

“We gave them all those runs in the fifth inning,” Chartiers-Houston coach Tricia Alderson said. “Our defense collapsed, and that was the game.”

It looked like Chartiers-Houston would regain the lead in the top of the seventh inning when Richey walked with one out and attempted to score on a throwing error by the third baseman; however, Carmichaels right fielder Avery Voithofer made a great save play, rushing to the ball and throwing a strike to Waggett, who made a nice sweep to bring Richey to the plate.

“It was a big deal,” Briggs said. “It was a big deal for us.”

In the bottom of the inning, Ferri struck out the first two batters, but Barnyak drew a walk, setting up the heroic hit for McConnell to complete an improbable comeback.

“I thought it would be an intentional walk and not an unintentional walk because the count was 3-0,” Briggs said of the game-winning hit. “They walked her a lot this year. She looked at me, but I didn’t give her the tone.

Carmichaels improve to 19-2 after winning a four-game split against Chartiers-Houston and will play at Nittany Lions Softball Park Friday for an 11 a.m. matchup against District 9 champion DuBois Central Catholic (22-2) .

“We were here last year and could have had a more talented team, but it’s tough,” Briggs said of winning a state championship. “You have to play hard and have a little luck. We played DuBois (Central Catholic) in the first round last year and we beat them (7-0), so we saw them.

Barnyak was on goal three times and scored twice. The winning pitcher allowed four runs on seven hits while striking out only two.

Ritchey and Ferri had two hits each for Chartiers-Houston, which finishes its district championship season at 20-3.

Ferri was the unlucky losing pitcher, allowing one earned run on just three hits while walking three and striking out 13 Mighty Mikes.

“She threw a phenomenal pitch,” Alderson said. “She didn’t deserve to lose the game the way she pitched. But it’s like that.