Carmichaels storms back for 6-4 win over Frazier
John F. Brothers/HeraldStandard.com
Frazier third baseman Paige Holtz puts the tag on Carmichaels’ Amanda Brown for the out. Carmichaels rallied with three runs in the sixth inning to tie the game and added two more in the seventh for the win.
At the top of the seventh inning, Carmichaels’ Morgan Berardi slides safely past Frazier shortstop Alexis Livingstone to steal second base. Berardi scored the winning run on the ensuing play when Lindsey Osborne’s double rolled to the wall as the Lady Mikes won 6-4. (Photo by John F. Brothers)
JEFFERSON TWP. — Frazier wasted little time taking control of Monday’s exhibition game, building a 3-0 lead over Carmichaels after one inning.
But Carmichaels chipped away, scoring a run in the top of the second. After another Frazier run made the score 4-1, the Lady Mikes rallied with three runs in the sixth to tie the game. Two more runs in a wild seventh inning provided a 6-4 edge that held through the bottom of the inning.
“It was fun out there today,” said Carmichaels coach Dave Briggs. “We hung in there through a tough start.”
The tough start included three runs. Two of them scored when Alexis Livingstone doubled to left field. Paige Holtz drove in Livingstone on the next at bat with a single to right.
“We have a lot of youth on our team, but they are strong hitters as well,” said Frazier coach Paul Harvey.
The game became a pitchers’ duel for a few innings, as Frazier’s (0-2) Andrea Lash and Carmichaels’ (2-0) Cameron Grimes held the bats in check.
Lash finished the game with eight strikeouts, allowing 11 hits, three earned runs and one walk in a complete game. Grimes pitched into the seventh, getting one out before Erica Burns picked up the save with the final two outs.
Grimes struck out five, walked one and allowed three earned runs.
Frazier made it 4-1 in the fifth when Lash reached base on a ground ball to right, but Kelsey Dillon’s pop up fell into play for an easy force out at second that sent Lash to the dugout.
Livingstone struck out, but a wild pick off attempt allowed Dillon to advance to second. Paige Holtz singled to score Dillon.
In the sixth, Grimes reached first on a walk.
“That lead off walk really got us going,” said Briggs. “We were able to get some hard hits after that to tie the game.”
Lindsey Osbourne ripped a double, scoring Grimes for a 4-2 game. Osbourne reached third on a wild pitch on the next at bat. Megan Bayles singled to right field to score Osbourne. Bayles made it to second on a wild pitch, then stole third base. In the same at bat, Amanda Brown singled to right, scoring Bayles.
In the seventh, Morgan Berardi reached first on an error. Grimes flied out to center. Berardi stole second before Osbourne ripped a double to center that rolled to the wall, scoring Berardi for a 5-4 lead.
Sarah Hathaway reached first on an error to put runners at the corners. A wild pick off attempt at first allowed Osbourne to score for a 6-4 lead.
Burns came on in relief in the bottom of the seventh for the save.
“That was a time when Frazier was coming through the meat of their line-up with their number 2, 3 and 4 hitters,” added Briggs. “Erica (Burns) was a change up in terms of style. Those hitters had seen Cameron three or four times each at that point in the game.”
Even though it was a non-section game, it was a battle to the end.
“We try to schedule tough out of the section,” said Harvey. “Hopefully it helps us in the long run. We’re a young team, so we will give up some runs late in games, but it’s March. We won’t get excited about things until we hit the section schedule.”