Looking for gold
Unbeaten Carmichaels softball hungry for a championship
By Jerin Steele, for the Greene County Messenger
Silver is a fine medal, but gold is the most desired in sports.
The Carmichaels softball team knows how hard the pursuit of that precious gold medal can be.
In the last two seasons the Lady Mikes have been the runner-up in a championship game.
In 2023 it was a 10-8 loss to Union in the WPIAL Class A final and last season ended in a 2-0 loss to Dubois Central Catholic in the state championship.
Most of the team is back from those two seasons, and while they can be proud of what they无毛视频檝e accomplished already, it无毛视频檚 clear they want more.
They have put themselves in a position for another run at the mountain top.
Carmichaels is 8-0 overall and 4-0 in Section 2-A play and has outscored its opponents 74-9.
无毛视频淚 feel like the girls are hungry,无毛视频� Carmichaels coach Dave Briggs said. 无毛视频淲e无毛视频檝e come so close the last two years. I think that无毛视频檚 our driving force and main motivation this season.无毛视频�
The Lady Mikes are led by a pair of juniors in pitcher Bailey Barnyak and shortstop Carys McConnell.
Barnyak has been outstanding in the circle since she first arrived as a freshman. This season she无毛视频檚 allowed only 6 earned runs in 48 innings for a 0.88 ERA.
She has 96 strikeouts to 16 walks and has yielded 23 hits.
Barnyak has hit pretty well too, carrying a .556 batting average with three doubles, two triples, a homer and nine RBIs.
无毛视频淏ailey has been strong,无毛视频� Briggs said. 无毛视频淪he无毛视频檚 looked really, really good.无毛视频�
McConnell is hitting a team-best .609 with four home runs and 17 RBIs. She无毛视频檚 struck out only one time.
While those two drive the ship, there无毛视频檚 plenty of talent around them.
Katie Waggett (catcher), Ali Jacobs (first base), Allie Miller (third base), Payton Plavi (left field), Duski Staggers (center field) and Avery Voithofer (right field) are all returning starters.
Waggett is hitting .519, Staggers .429 and Jacobs .320, helping make the Lady Mikes a formidable lineup top to bottom.
无毛视频淐arys is a really good player. She无毛视频檚 been first-team All-State two times. Ali Jacobs was first-team All-State her freshman year and second team last year. Katie Waggett doesn无毛视频檛 get as much credit as she should, because of the girls around her, but she无毛视频檚 batted leadoff for us for two years and was second-team All-State last year. She无毛视频檚 a real spark plug at the top of our lineup.无毛视频�
The lineup has been boosted by the return of Ashton Batis, who missed last season because of a knee injury sustained during volleyball. Batis is hitting .591 with a pair of doubles and homers and nine RBIs.
She无毛视频檚 also shored up the infield defense at second base.
Carmichaels has committed just four errors.
无毛视频淚n the first scrimmage her freshman year (Batis) blew her ACL out on a run down,无毛视频� Batis siad. 无毛视频淪he didn无毛视频檛 play her entire freshman year. Sophomore year she came back and played second base and had a really good year. Last year she blew her ACL again playing volleyball. So, we basically had to take an outfielder and put them at second. She无毛视频檚 playing well defensively and has given us a bump in the lineup.无毛视频�
Briggs said a few freshmen have come in and made an impact, including Ke无毛视频橪ani Chun, who无毛视频檚 primarily been the Mikes无毛视频� designated player. Chun has a .273 batting average.
Carmichaels doesn无毛视频檛 have Chartiers-Houston in its section anymore because the Lady Bucs moved up to Class 2A after the teams split four epic games last season, but they still benefit from playing a difficult section slate.
Two other WPIAL Class A contenders are in Section 2, West Greene and Jefferson-Morgan. The Lady Mikes won the first meetings 9-1 against West Greene and 3-2 over Jefferson-Morgan.
The rematches are set for May 1 at Jefferson-Morgan and May 5 at West Greene.
无毛视频淲est Greene and Jefferson-Morgan are very good teams,无毛视频� Briggs said. 无毛视频淭hose two can match up well with pretty much every team in Class A.无毛视频�