Terrific twosome
Carmichaels juniors McConnell, Barnyak lead GCM All-County softball team, also named All-State
There were many key parts to Carmichaels’ run in softball through a perfect regular season and a section championship to the WPIAL final and spot in the PIAA tournament.
The Lady Mikes had many stars but two shined the brightest.
In the circle was a dominating pitcher in Bailey Barnyak and at shortstop was a top-flight hitter and fielder in Carys McConnell.
The bad news for opponents is that those two were only juniors.
Barnyak and McConnell top the Greene County Messenger All-County Softball Team as the Co-Players of the Year. Both were also named to the Pennsylvania High School Softball Coaches Association All-State Class 1A First Team.
Their coach, Dave Briggs, is the GCM Coach of the Year.
The GCM Player of the Year Runner-up is Waynesburg Central senior Gina Tedrow of Waynesburg Central and the Freshman of the Year is the Lady Raiders’ Kolbi Rostoka.
Along with Barnyak, McConnell and Tedrow, other GCM All-County First Team players are seniors Kaitlyn Waggett, Ali Jacobs and Ashton Batis of Carmichaels, seniors Payton Gilbert and Marissa Tharp, and juniors Kendra Tharp and Emmaline Beazell of West Greene, senior Avery Davis and sophomore Ellie Makel of Waynesburg Central, and sophomore Emilee Bazzoli of Jefferson-Morgan.
Also selected to the GCM All-County Team were senior Duski Staggers and freshman Ke’Lani Chun of Carmichaels, sophomore Kylee Davis of West Greene, senior Brooklynne Snyder, junior Addie Larkin, and sophomore Ashlynn Snyder of Jefferson-Morgan, juniors Makenna Lotspeich and Marley Shiflett of Mapletown, and senior Bre Kerr, sophomores Ellie Makel and Kylee Schaum, and Rostoka of Waynesburg Central.
Four of the county’s five teams qualified for the postseason with J-M (10-8) under coach Rich Rush, West Greene (16-5) under coach Bill Simms and Waynesburg Central (11-7) under coach Jim Armstong joining Carmichaels (16-2). The Lady Rockets and Lady Pioneers joined the Lady Mikes in the WPIAL Class 1A semifinals, giving vaunted Section 2-A three of the final four, and the section also produced a pair of state playoff teams in West Greene, which defeated J-M in a play-in game, and Carmichaels.
Both Jefferson-Morgan (in the semifinals) and the Lady Mikes (in the final) fell to eventual PIAA champion Union in the WPIAL playoffs. West Greene was knocked out of the district tournament by Carmichaels in the semifinals. Jacobs had a memorable performance in that Lady Mikes’ 10-0 playoff win, driving in a run in each of her four at bats.
Carmichaels was 3-0 against West Greene this season.
McConnell and Barnyak made the PAHSSBCA All-State for the third year in a row.
Waggett was chosen for the Second Team for the second consecutive season, while Batis was named in two categories, being chosen as a First Team second baseman, and also as one of three Courage Award Honorees, which goes to players who have overcome major injuries.
“The last few years we’ve put a lot of girls on the all-state team,” Briggs said. “To get four again is a nice team accomplishment.”
In addition to Waggett, All-State Second Team selections were pitcher Gilbert, outfielder Marissa Tharp and shortstop Kendra Tharp of West Greene in Class 1A.
McConnell was an excellent fielder who batted .519 with five home runs, 29 RBIs and 23 runs while Barnyak was 16-2 with a 0.74 ERA and 216 strikeouts in 104 innings pitched with only 34 walks, and also hit .411 with 16 RBIs.
“For Bailey and Carys, they’ve been on there every single year since they were freshmen,” Briggs pointed out. “That’s quite an accomplishment and they definitely earned their spots each year. Hopefully, they’ll have strong seasons next year, too, and both make it four for four.
“And that’s two years now Katie has made the second team so I’m happy for her. When you see the way she plays the game you realize how good she is. She’s a tough player.”
Waggett was the county’s second-leading hitter behind McConnell. She batted .467 with five doubles, four triples, a home run, 13 RBIs, 28 runs and 15 stolen bases.
Briggs had special praise for Batis who made the First Team for the first time.
“I’m so happy for Ashton. She had to overcome two ACL injuries in her career,” Briggs explained. “The first one occurred the first scrimmage of her freshman year. She missed the season but rehabbed, came back her sophomore year and played second base for us when we made the WPIAL finals and won one state game.
“Then her junior year she tore it again, same knee, in volleyball. So we didn’t have her for her junior season either. But she rehabbed hard again and came back strong again, had a good senior year and gave us a nice boost offensively and defensively.
“To overcome two severe injuries like that, with the hard work and determination that takes, not only physically but mentally, that just tells you a whole lot about Ashton.”
West Greene put two players on the 2024 All-State Team and upped that by one in 2025.
“It’s nice to see us put three players on there,” Simms said. “Payton and Marissa were second team All-State last year as well. Payton was on the team as a utility player because she pitched and was a position player when we used Samantha Zimmerman to pitch at times. This year she made it as a straight pitcher. She did a fine job pitching and batting for us.”
Gilbert was 16-4 with a 2.92 ERA and 102 strikeouts and batted .458 with nine doubles and 22 RBIs. Marissa Tharp was one of the state’s top defensive centerfielders while also leading her team in runs (25) and stolen bases (16) as a lead-off hitter.
“I’m just glad people look at the defensive metrics we put out there,” Simms said. “In the regular season against the tough competition we faced in our section she didn’t make a single error. She has a lot of speed which allowed us to cheat with our left and right fielders where they could play closer to the lines. I was very proud to see she made it.”
Marissa’s younger sister Kendra Tharp batted .288 with six doubles, and team-high 19 hits and 12 stolen bases while sporting a .918 fielding percentage.
“If you watched all of our games this year you would’ve thought Kendra was a no-brainer as an All-State pick,” Simms said. “Any time you’re in the shortstop category you’re in with the elite players across the state. Lo and behold there were enough committee members that must have seen her and the caliber of player she was. She’s very deserving and we’re excited to see her make the team as well.”
Tedrow, the Lady Raiders’ pitcher and best hitter, was a surprising omission from the All-State team. She batted .432 with four doubles, four home runs and 21 RBIs and was 11-6 in the circle with a county-best 207 strikeouts during the regular season although Barnyak surprised her for the overall strikeout lead in the postseason.
Rostoka, who batted .333 with 10 RBIs, two home runs and 14 runs, beat out Chun as the top freshman. Chun also hit .333 with one home run and 15 RBIs.