Baseball, softball seasons pass halfway point
It’s hard to believe, but the halfway point of section play with Greene County baseball and softball teams this spring has passed.
Squads will battle against each other for the top spot in their respective sections and also vie for one of the three playoff spots within each section.
Like it has been for most of the spring, Mother Nature will be a critical factor whether games are played and how many games each team play in a given week. As of right now, the WPIAL has set May 6 as the final play date for section games.
As of April 22, the Carmichaels softball squad is in first place in Section 2-AA with a 7-2 overall record and a flawless mark of 7-0 in section play.
The Lady Mikes secured a section triumph, 9-1, on Tuesday versus Beth-Center.
Erica Burns struck out 13 and only allowed three hits to the Lady Bulldogs. The senior ace surpassed 500 strikeouts for her career at Carmichaels in the contest.
Offensively, the Lady Mikes pounded out 16 hits in the game. Emma Lowry tallied a team-high three hits, while Caroline Cree and Natalie McNett tripled. Lauren Walker, Megan Walker and Morgan Faddis all collected doubles in the win.
Carmichaels finished out the week with a game at Brownsville (on April 23) before hosting Waynesburg Central on Saturday at noon.
As for next week, the Lady Mikes will be at home against McGuffey on Monday, Charleroi on Tuesday and Bentworth Thursday. Carmichaels still needs to make up a road contest against McGuffey that was postponed on Wednesday.
Waynesburg picked up a critical section victory on Tuesday with a 17-7 rout of Bentworth.
After trailing the visitors 6-1 after the first inning, the Lady Raiders rallied with three runs in the second, a pair in the third, five in the fourth and six more in the fifth to evoke the 5-inning, 10-run mercy rule.
Courtney Yuhas earned the win for Waynesburg, while the offense totaled 17 hits. Tara Staley hit a solo home run, while her sister Taylor had three hits and four RBI. Gabby Rose went 4-for-4 with a double and Breanna Scott laced a two-bagger with a pair of RBI.
The Lady Raiders (4-7, 3-3) are currently in fifth place in the section behind Carmichaels, McGuffey (6-1, 6-1), Bentworth (8-6, 6-4) and Brownsville (4-5, 4-4). The next couple of games are going to be vital must-wins if Waynesburg wants to go to the postseason.
Waynesburg will finish out this week with games at McGuffey (4/23), at home against Beth-Center today and at Carmichaels on Saturday.
Next week the Lady Raiders host Brownsville on Tuesday and will play a doubleheader at Washington on Thursday. The first game of the DH will be the rest of a suspended game from April 8. Waynesburg trailed Washington 4-2 in the fifth inning of that game.
Jefferson-Morgan extended its winning streak to three games after a 21-0 thumping of Avella on Tuesday. The Lady Rockets are 7-2 overall and 5-1 in Section 1-A play. Chartiers-Houston (12-1, 7-0) is on top of the section and already clinched a playoff berth.
J-M hosted Chartiers-Houston on Thursday in a critical section contest and will need to make up a home game against Fort Cherry sometime in the future after a postponement on Wednesday. The Lady Rockets travels to West Greene on Tuesday and hosts Mapletown on Thursday.
With Fort Cherry and Avella at the bottom of the section, it seems like West Greene (7-4, 3-3) and Mapletown (5-4, 3-4) are battling it out for the final playoff spot in Section 1-A.
On Tuesday, the Lady Pioneers defeated Fort Cherry, 18-2, while the Lady Maples suffered a setback to Chartiers-Houston, 10-0.
After their section face-off against Mapletown on Thursday, April 23, West Greene welcomes J-M on Tuesday and travels to Avella on Thursday. The Lady Pioneers still need to play Avella at home after their game was postponed on Wednesday.
As for the Lady Maples, Mapletown hosts Fort Cherry on Tuesday and ventures out to J-M on Thursday.
Switching to baseball, the Section 1-A standings as of Wednesday were as follows: California (11-1, 5-0), Bentworth (7-2, 4-1), Carmichaels (7-2, 3-2), Jefferson-Morgan (4-6, 3-3), West Greene (1-7, 1-4) and Mapletown (0-8, 0-6).
The Mikes defeated the Pioneers on Tuesday, 9-3, after a six-run top of the seventh for Carmichaels. Darren Krause and Billy Bowlen both had two-run singles in the decisive frame, while Jacob Kinsell picked up the win in relief with eight strikeouts.
Carmichaels hosted West Greene on Thursday (April 23) and will need to make-up a critical section game with California after a postponement on Wednesday. The Mikes travel to Mapletown on Monday, host Bentworth on Wednesday and venture out to J-M next Friday.
On Monday, the Rockets were defeated by California, 13-3, in five innings on the road. The Trojans collected eight runs in the first, four more in the second and a single run in the fifth to evoke the mercy rule. Austin Clark and Isaac Dean doubled for J-M in the loss.
The Rockets will have back-to-back home games against California today and Bentworth on Monday. J-M concludes its section schedule on the road against West Greene on Wednesday and at home versus Carmichaels next Friday.
After a section match-up with Carmichaels on Thursday (April 23), the Pioneers welcome California on Monday and J-M on Wednesday, before traveling to Mapletown on Thursday.
The Maples host Bentworth today, followed by a home game against Carmichaels on Monday, at California on Wednesday and against West Greene in Greensboro on Thursday.
If the season were to end today, Waynesburg Central would be in the playoffs after a third place finish in Section 2-AA. The Lady Raiders (5-4, 4-3) trail Washington (6-1, 6-0) and Brownsville (8-1, 5-0) in the section.
After suffering a 9-7 setback to Washington on Tuesday, the Raiders will look to rebound today at Frazier. Waynesburg will then play Brownsville Saturday at CONSOL Energy Park at 3 p.m.
Next week, Waynesburg hosts Charleroi on Monday and travels to Chartiers-Houston on Wednesday. The Raiders’ section finale is at home versus Beth-Center next Friday.