Reversal of fortune: Lady Mikes headed to PIAA final after stunning comeback
VENETIA 无毛视频� Round 2 went to Carys McConnell.
And Round 4 of the clash of softball rivals Carmichaels and Chartiers-Houston, this time in the PIAA Class A semifinals, went to McConnell and the Lady Mikes.
McConnell无毛视频檚 two-out double to deep right field on a 3-0 pitch sent Bailey Barnyak speeding around from first base to score the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning as Carmichaels completed a stunning comeback to defeat the Lady Bucs, 5-4, at Peterswood Park on Monday afternoon.
Carmichaels advanced to Thursday无毛视频檚 state championship game at Penn State University against either Old Forge or DuBois Central Catholic. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m.
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 what I无毛视频檝e been working towards the past two seasons,无毛视频� Barnyak said. 无毛视频淚t has sunk in. I无毛视频檓 ready for it.无毛视频�
The Lady Mikes (19-3) rallied from a 4-0 deficit with four runs on just one hit in the bottom of the fifth inning, taking advantage of four Chartiers-Houston errors.
无毛视频淭hat无毛视频檚 the one thing about his team, they never give up,无毛视频� Carmichaels coach Dave Briggs said. 无毛视频淭hey just play and don无毛视频檛 panic. That无毛视频檚 the way we无毛视频檝e been all year.无毛视频�
The score remained tied until the bottom of the seventh when Barnyak drew a two-out walk from Meadow Ferri, who pitched brilliantly in defeat.
Up stepped McConnell, who had faced a similar situation against Ferri the last time the two teams met in the WPIAL semifinals when she struck out with the tying run on base to end the game.
This time Ferri seemed to be very careful, throwing three straight balls.
无毛视频淚 thought she was unintentionally, intentionally walking her,无毛视频� Briggs said. 无毛视频淭hey walked her a ton this year. She looked at me but I didn无毛视频檛 give her a take sign.无毛视频�
McConnell was guessing she would be intentionally walked.
无毛视频淚 thought they weren无毛视频檛 going to pitch to me at all,无毛视频� McConnell said.
Instead, McConnell zoned in on the 3-0 pitch and sent it flying to deep right field where Emily Swarrow made a leaping attempt but couldn无毛视频檛 make the catch.
无毛视频淚 thought she was going to catch it,无毛视频� McConnell said.
Barnyak never stopped and raced from first to home to score the winning run without a throw.
无毛视频淗e (Briggs) said two outs, you无毛视频檙e going, so that无毛视频檚 what I did,无毛视频� Barnyak said. 无毛视频淚nsane that we made it but I knew we could do it. I无毛视频檓 proud of everyone, especially of Carys.无毛视频�
无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 happy that I got her this time,无毛视频� McConnell said of winning the second huge postseason duel with Ferri.
无毛视频淪he hit a good pitch,无毛视频� C-H coach Tricia Alderson said. 无毛视频淚 thought we had a shot out there in right field but it carried a little bit. She无毛视频檚 a great hitter.无毛视频�
Chartiers-Houston (20-3), which went on to defeat Union to win the WPIAL championship after its last meeting with Carmichaels, saw its season come to an end with a 20-3 record. The two ended their season series splitting their four games.
The Lady Bucs had a chance to take the lead in the top of the seventh. Ella Richey drew a one-out walk and tried to score from first when Lauren Rush reached on a throwing error. Lady Mikes right fielder Avery Voithofer backed up on the play and made a strong throw to catcher Kaitlyn Wagget who tagged Richey out.
无毛视频淚 was headed that way and then saw the ball was high and said, oh shoot, and tried to grab it as quick as I could,无毛视频� Voithofer said. 无毛视频淚 just turned and let it loose.无毛视频�
无毛视频淚 just kept yelling, 无毛视频楢very, four, Avery, four无毛视频� and she made a great throw,无毛视频� Waggett said. 无毛视频淚 tagged her right before she hit the plate.无毛视频�
Monday无毛视频檚 game looked like an outlier of the previous three close battles between Carmichaels and Chartiers-Houston, one of which went 15 innings, with the Lady Bucs seeming to be in complete control with a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth.
无毛视频淚 could tell we were getting down on ourselves a little,无毛视频� Barnyak said. 无毛视频淪o we pulled the team together and said, 无毛视频楬ey, look at the score, it无毛视频檚 fine, we can work through it.无毛视频� And that无毛视频檚 what we did. We put everything behind us and came back.无毛视频�
Carmichaels took advantage of four Chartiers-Houston errors in an improbable rally that began with Voithofer无毛视频檚 one-out walk, Ferri无毛视频檚 first of the game.
Duski Staggers bunted Voithofer to second and she scored from there when Alayna Simon reached on an infield error. Waggett followed with a hard single to right, the Lady Mikes无毛视频� only hit of the inning, and took second on the throw to third which Simon beat. Barnyak无毛视频檚 grounder resulted in another error that allowed Simon and Waggett to score, the latter being safe when catcher Richey couldn无毛视频檛 hang onto the throw home. McConnell无毛视频檚 spinning grounder resulted in yet another infield error that allowed Barnyak to race home with the tying run from second.
无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 so proud of the way we just stayed in there, hung around and made some things happen there at the end,无毛视频� said Briggs, who pointed out his team put the ball in play which gave them a chance.
无毛视频淭hat无毛视频檚 what we tried to do. We went to the bunt game a little bit there and got some things going and got to the top of the order and got some runs across. We have some speed and some good base-running at the top with Katy Waggett, Bailey, Carys. They无毛视频檙e great baserunners and they can move and cause problems.无毛视频�
Chartiers-Houston out-hit the Lady Mikes 7-3.
The Lady Bucs jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Rush hit a one-out double to deep left-center and scored on Taryne Drilak无毛视频檚 double down the left-field line.
The Lady Mikes avoided further damage in the inning when left fielder Payton Plavi came in and made a diving catch of Seanna Riggle无毛视频檚 two-out sinking fly ball.
Charttiers-Houston made it 2-0 in the second inning. Richey singled, took second on a throwing error on the play and advanced to third on Rush无毛视频檚 ground out. Ferri followed with an RBI single to center.
Ferri retired the first 10 batters until Barnyak reached on an error in the fourth inning. Ali Jacobs broke up the no-hitter with a two-out, line drive single to right, sending Barnyak to third but Ferri got a strikeout to end the threat.
The Lady Bucs extended their lead to 4-0 in the fifth when Alana Palone singled to center and Richey clubbed a two-run homer over the left field fence.
The game would turn around quickly in the bottom of the inning.
无毛视频淲e gave them all of their runs other than the last one,无毛视频� Alderson said. 无毛视频淥ur defense broke down and that was the game.无毛视频�
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 hard,无毛视频� Briggs said of what it takes to reach a state final. 无毛视频淵ou have to play well and it takes a little bit of luck.无毛视频�