Carmichaels takes advantage of miscues, beats Shenango, 11-4
KENNEDY TWP. — Carmichaels took advantage of miscues by Shenango Monday in the WPIAL Class A quarterfinal at Fairhaven Park, downing the Lady Wildcats, 11-4.
“We’re excited to have a second chance this year,” said senior pitcher Cameron Grimes, among those from last year’s team that lost to Shenango under the same circumstances. “We had a great team last year, but this year we were able to advance.”
The second inning provided the spark the Lady Mikes (21-1) needed, as they send 10 batters to the plate in a 6-run inning. “We got the bats going in that inning. I know my first at-bat was a struggle,” added Grimes. “It seems like it takes one at-bat before things get rolling,”
A pair of errors by Shenango (13-8) helped things along, as only four of those runs registered as earned runs. But Grimes took advantage, smacking a single to deep right field that cleared the bases for three more runs and a 6-1 lead.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen something like that before,” said Carmichaels head coach Dave Briggs. “A bases-clearing single is pretty rare.”
The explosion of offense was a response to the 1-0 lead the Lady Vikings held after Kim Burdett cranked a solo home run to center field in the top of the inning, one of two solo home runs in the game, the other coming off the bat of losing pitcher Michelle Watson.
“We’re a strong hitting team, with 7 or 8 home runs on the season,” said Shenango head coach Amy Delaney. “So it wasn’t surprising that we got some runs that way.”
The same script continued later in the game, as Watson’s home run made the score 6-2 in the fourth, but Carmichaels responded again, this time with three runs, making the score 9-2.
“Carmichaels played well today,” added Delaney. “But miscues allowed the innings to continue. You can’t expect to win when you give the other team extra outs.”
Shenango chipped into the lead in the sixth with two more runs for a 9-4 game, highlighted by Burdett’s RBI double to center. She finished with one run scored, two hits and a pair of RBI.
Watson, in the loss, allowed eight hits, eight earned runs, walked two and struck out four.
Carmichaels restored the big lead with two runs in the sixth. Sarah Hathaway had two RBI and a run scored as Grimes had three RBI. Erica Burns had two hits, including a double, along with two runs scored.
With Sto-Rox facing Frazier in the game following, many of Carmichaels’ fans and players stuck around to see their next opponent, evidence that the Lady Mikes are a focused group.
“We’re just about done celebrating this win now,” said Grimes, no more than 15 minutes after recording the final out of the game.
Carmichaels faces Sto-Rox, an 8-1 winner over Frazier in the other quarterfinal of the day, in Wednesday’s semifinals. The time and site are to be determined.