Carmichaels routs Jefferson-Morgan
JEFFERSON – The outfield walls at Jefferson-Morgan are chain-link and covered with advertisements, but the way the ball was flying out of the park Monday it seemed as though the ivy-covered brick of Wrigley Field settled in Greene County.
Carmichaels smacked three home runs, including a couple of three-run shots, for a 15-1 road victory in six innings over the Rockets to remain in the thick of the Section 1-A playoff race. With the section season scheduled to end Wednesday, five teams are within three losses of each other. California is alone at the top at 10-2, with games against Geibel Catholic this afternoon and Bentworth on Wednesday remaining. The Bearcats are a game behind in second with only the Trojans left. The Mikes (9-6) are alone in third at 8-4 and travel to West Greene today before hosting Mapletown on Wednesday.
Jefferson-Morgan (11-7) needs some help at 8-5 and only West Greene left in Wednesday’s season finale. The Rockets split with Bentworth and were swept by Carmichaels. Geibel Catholic is at 7-5, and needs lots of help in addition to season-ending wins against California and Frazier.
The Mikes didn’t waste much time going long against starting pitcher Mike Mox. Mox issued one-out walks to Chuck Gasti and Ethan Virgili, and Tim Voithofer made him pay with a long home run over the left-center field fence.
Mox didn’t make it out of the second inning, allowing another run. Terry Lawrence wasn’t able to contain the Mikes, either.
Carmichaels scored two runs in the third for a 6-0 lead, and then put the game out of reach in the fifth.
Marcus Robinson singled with one out, and moved to second when the ball was mishandled. Aaron Thompson singled him to third, and Errett Mahle drove Robinson home with another single.
Logan Phillips, the Mikes’ No. 9 hitter, cracked a three-run homer for a 10-0 lead.
The offense blast was long in coming, according to Carmichaels coach Dave Bates.
“I like it when we come to play. When we don’t have that spark, we’re not a very good team,” said Bates. “I never mind seeing guys hit that well. At the beginning of the game, the wind was pushing the ball down. The ball was carrying (as the game progressed).”
The Mikes’ Joby Lapkowicz was only three outs away from a 5-inning, 10-run victory, but Josh Harshman, the Rockets’ opening batter of the fifth, kept the home team’s hopes alive when he launched a solo home run.
That was the only blip on what was otherwise a stellar performance by Lapkowicz. He allowed three hits, struck out 10, hit one batter and walked three.
“We’ve been averaging over 10 runs a game,” said Jefferson-Morgan coach John Curtis. “Give credit to Lapkowicz. It was tough standing in the third base coaching box. I was by myself. There was no traffic.
“We didn’t have too many chances. It was a big game and we were kinda flat. I anticipated a more competitive game.”
“We were hoping Joby could go seven innings today. Everything he threw was in control,” said Bates.
Carmichaels wasn’t done offensively, responding for five runs in the sixth on the strength of Mahle’s two-run single and Phillips’ two-run home run. Lapkowicz stranded two runners for the six-inning victory.
Mahle and Phillips, at the end of the order, went a combined 4-for-7 with five runs scored and eight RBIs. Gasti went 3-for-3 with a double and RBI, and Cody Andrews finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored.
Despite the big road win, Bates kept everything in its perspective.
“This doesn’t mean anything until we beat West Greene and Mapletown.”