We meet again: Lady Mikes hope for similar result against DuBois CC
Ed Thompson
Carmichaels softball handled DuBois Central Catholic, 7-0, last season in the first round of the PIAA Class A playoffs, but the stakes will be much higher when the two meet Thursday morning for the state championship at Penn State University’s Beard Field.
The first pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m.
Carmichaels coach Dave Briggs would love a repeat of last year’s game, but DuBois didn’t get this far by accident.
“We played a good game last year and beat them up at their field, which was nice,” Briggs said. “They do have a lot of the same players back, but last year, they used two pitchers against us, and it looks like they just use one this year, and she’s a sophomore.”
Rylee Kulbatsky allowed one earned run on four hits and struck out 12 in the Lady Cardinals’ 2-1 win in the semifinals over Old Forge.
Lily Davidson was 3-for-3 with a triple, a run and an RBI for DuBois. Teammate Lauren Davidson was 2-for-2 in the state semifinals.
Lady Mikes sophomore Bailey Barnyak yielded four earned runs on seven hits with two strikeouts and three walks in Monday’s 5-4 victory in walk-off fashion over section-rival Chartiers-Houston.
Carys McConnell had the walk-off hit.
Teammate Kaitlyn Waggett had a hit and scored a run, as the Lady Mikes took advantage of four errors committed by the Lady Bucs.
“It feels amazing,” said Waggett moments after the win over Chartiers-Houston. “I’m proud of every single one of our players.”
Two of Carmichaels’ three losses this season were at the hands of the Lady Bucs, who won the WPIAL championship.
The Lady Mikes (19-3) are playing in their first state championship game in 26 years. Carmichaels won the Class AA title in a 5-2 triumph over South Williamsport. The winning pitcher, Nikki Gasti, is very familiar with this year’s pitcher for the Lady Mikes.
Gasti, now Onderko, is not only Barnyak’s mother but also an assistant coach on Briggs’ staff.
“There are definitely a lot of ties between this team and that one,” Briggs said. “I was an assistant coach when that team won the title in 1998, so it shows that I’m getting old. It would be really exciting to have a mother-daughter combination win a state title.”
Briggs had a conversation with West Greene coach Bill Simms about the atmosphere of playing for a state championship. Simms led the Lady Pioneers to state title games in 2016, ’17, ’18 and ’21 with West Greene earning championships in ’17 and ’18.
“I talked to Bill, and he gave us some advice about what to expect up there,” Briggs said. “I am confident we will have a good crowd because we always have had a good following.”
The Lady Mikes came into the state tournament the third-place team out of District 7 and defeated Cambridge Springs, 2-1, in extra innings before an 8-1 victory over Claysburg-Kimmel in the quarterfinals.
The Lady Cardinals (22-2) downed WPIAL runner-up Union, 6-1, in the first round of the state tournament and defeated Meyersdale, 7-1, in the quarterfinals. DuBois’ two losses this season are a 2-1 setback to Central Mountain, who will play for the Class AAAA title, and were shut out 2-0 in a game against Wellsville, N.Y.