May 2, 2007 By Mike Ciarochi 3 min read

PERRYOPOLIS – Carmichaels clinched a playoff spot by winning a game that played just like a playoff softball game Tuesday.

Frazier gave the Lady Mikes all they could handle, but Carmichaels came up with five runs in the top of the seventh and held on for a 6-5 win over the Lady Commodores in Section 2-A action. The win puts Carmichaels (11-1, 10-1) in the playoffs, but that didn’t impress Lady Mikes coach Dave Briggs very much.

“It may have put us in the playoffs, but we’re after a section championship,” Briggs said. “It was a lackluster game for both offenses until the sixth inning. We had trouble getting timely hits until then. Frazier played a tremendous game. Their pitcher is very strong, especially for a freshman. She struck out a lot of batters (10). We kept chasing her fastball.”

Angie Kircher came to battle, that’s for sure. She went toe-to-toe with Carmichaels’ Courtney Newland. Newland earned the win by striking out three batters in the bottom of the seventh.

The game shaped up as a classic upset win for Frazier. Newland kept the Lady Commodores off the scoreboard through five innings and was nursing a 1-0 lead, which came across when Taylor Nichols singled and came all the way around on a double error on Beth May’s bunt.

Frazier took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth when Kristen Miller singled and scored on Kristen Joseph’s single to center. Joseph took second on the throw to the plate and moved to third on an error. Annie King’s bunt was brought home, but the ball was dropped and Joseph scored the go-ahead run.

Kircher got a groundout before taking a shot to her left knee off the bat of Morgan Pratt. She came back to strike out the next batter and, with two outs and a Carmichaels’ runner on first base, it looked like the Lady Commodores would hold on for the win.

“We even had two strikes on the batter,” Frazier coach Floyd Shroyer said. “It doesn’t get much closer than that. But I’ll tell you one thing; this was an outstanding softball game. I can’t ask for more effort than what my kids gave me. We were right there with Carmichaels the whole way, but they showed why they have only one loss so far this year.”

Shayleigh Busti battled back from a 1-2 count to draw her third walk of the game (the only three walks Kircher allowed) and Laci Ludrosky was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Pratt scored on a wild pitch to tie the score and Cortland stepped up with a two-run single to give Carmichaels a 4-2 lead. Memry Jordan singled and scored, along with Newland, on Alyssa Workman’s single to make it 6-2.

Frazier came back again with three runs in the bottom of the seventh on a couple of hits. The big blow was a mishandled shot to shortstop by Joseph that brought in the last two runs.

Newland settled down to end the game on consecutive strikeouts.

“She has pitched in so many games in her career that she just knows what to do and when to take charge,” Briggs said.