May 22, 2007 By Jim Wexell For The 4 min read

GREENSBURG – Carmichaels fed Springdale slugger Aaron Figore a steady diet of fastballs, and Figore fed a steady diet of fastballs over the Seton Hill University fence in Springdale’s 12-6 win in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class A baseball playoffs. Figore only hit one home run, but two long doubles bounced over the fence, and he added a single.

After seeing nine fastballs in the game, Figore finally got a curve from Carmichaels relief pitcher Chuck Gasti in the seventh inning and he flew out to right field.

Figore was 4-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored. He improved his average to a team-leading .516, which isn’t shabby for the No. 5 hitter in the order.

“That’s where he’s most comfortable, in that five spot,” said Springdale Coach Dan Pschirer.

Perhaps Figore’s hiding out down in the order. Or perhaps he’s simply a dead fastball hitter.

“I was surprised he didn’t see more curveballs after that first-inning shot,” Pschirer said.

“When the curveball’s not working, you’ve got to put a fastball across the plate,” said Carmichaels coach Dave Bates. “With a 310(-foot) fence, you’re going to pay damage dividends at some point.”

Figore missed hitting three home runs by a foot or so. His first ground-rule double drove in two runs as Springdale jumped to a 2-0 lead. Andy Weber then belted a home run off Carmichaels pitcher Logan Phillips in the second inning as the Springdale lead increased to 4-1.

Figore belted a high fastball over the left field fence to open the third inning, and the inning ended with Springdale leading 7-1. His blast in the fourth inning bounced over the center-field fence, and Springdale took a 9-2 lead into the bottom of the fourth.

Carmichaels rallied in the fourth. The Nos. 8 and 9 hitters in the lineup reached base, but, with nobody out, the runner at second was picked off by the catcher.

The next four batters reached base against Springdale’s erratic ace, Mike Devine, but Carmichaels only scored two runs in the inning thanks to the rally-killing pickoff.

“Just not paying attention,” Bates said of his baserunner. “We get an aggressive lead but we don’t match it with hustle back to the bag.”

Carmichaels relief pitcher Tom Musgrove allowed two runs in the fifth. Gasti relieved in the sixth and held Springdale without a hit and allowed an unearned run.

Bates didn’t regret saving Gasti until the game was out of reach, even though Gasti showed the best stuff of any Carmichaels pitcher.

“Yeah, he did. He came out and looked real sharp,” Bates said. “He’s a sophomore. He just hasn’t had enough work. We haven’t had enough games where he could get work. He only pitched about four times this year. He’s going to be one of our starters next year.”

Springdale’s Devine was relieved by Weber in the sixth inning and Weber allowed a home run to Tim Voithofer. Carmichaels added a run in the seventh to complete the scoring.

Devine earned the win, his sixth without a loss, but he wasn’t sharp. He allowed five hits, five walks, threw five wild pitches and hit three batters in five innings. His pitch count may have been too high for the Springdale scorekeeper to count.

“He threw a lot more pitches than he should have, let’s put it that way,” said Pschirer as he looked for the number.

“He didn’t have his best stuff today. That was obvious. We knew that, they knew that, anyone who’s ever watched him knew that. But he just kept plugging and making pitches whenever he could.”

The Springdale offense is largely responsible for the team’s 18-3 record and No. 2 seed in Class A. Its pitching and defense weren’t championship-caliber yesterday. Springdale committed six errors in its first game in 12 days.

“That’s not the norm,” Pschirer said. “What you saw today wasn’t our best game. The byes have pros and cons.”

Carmichaels would’ve liked to have matched Springdale’s ace with its ace, Joby Lapkowicz, who pitched three days ago in a first-round game. Carmichaels instead ended its season at 12-7.

Gasti, with two infield singles, had the only multi-hit game for Carmichaels. Leadoff hitter Lapkowicz reached base all five times and Voithofer drove in two runs.