Mikes proud of accomplishments in 2008 season
Carmichaels waited through rain, thunder and lightning, then waited nearly two hours more, only to be denied a gold medal in the PIAA Class A title game. There were dark clouds surrounding Altoona’s Blair County Ballpark, before and after the Mikes’ 2-0 loss to Camp Hill last Friday. Even though those clouds wound up being lined with silver, it was still a disappointing ending to an otherwise fantastic season.
Carmichaels was forced to sit through a long rain delay – not in its game but in the game prior to the Class A championship.
The Quad-A title game was delayed one hour and 39 minutes, and because of that, the Class A game didn’t start until nearly 6:20 p.m., after it was slated to begin at 4:30.
Once the game began, Carmichaels never did come up with the timely hit it needed against Camp Hill’s Matthew Spiegel. Spiegel allowed just two hits, but was far from perfect. He walked four batters and the Lions committed three errors, giving the Mikes plenty of scoring opportunities.
Carmichaels had a runner reach at least second base in every inning but two, and all totaled, the Mikes stranded eight base runners.
“We couldn’t come up with a big hit when we needed it most,” said Carmichaels’ Chuck Gasti. “And when we did look like we were going to get a couple hits, they (Camp Hill) made great plays and took them away.”
Indeed. As sloppy as Camp Hill’s defense looked on the three errors it committed, the Lions came up with two defensive gems, one by shortstop Lawrence Thompson and the other by second baseman Parker Marsh, that likely changed the game’s outcome.
Thompson dove to his left, gobbled up a ground ball and managed to throw out Carmichaels’ Marcus Robinson in the top of the third inning. If the ball gets through and rolls into centerfield, Gasti likely would have scored from second base to tie the game at 1.
In the top of the sixth inning with Camp Hill leading 2-0, Marsh ranged far to his right, dove and stopped a grounder off Robinson’s bat, and threw out the Carmichaels shortstop by a half-step.
The play became all the more pivotal when Zach Durbin later walked with two outs and Billy Musgrove followed with a single to right field which in all probabilities would have scored Robinson had he been aboard.
“It was really frustrating,” Robinson said. “I thought I had hits both times, but you have to give them credit, they made two really good plays.”
The loss was just a small blemish on an otherwise history-making season.
No Mikes baseball team had ever got past the PIAA semifinals, and only one other Greene County school – Waynesburg Central – ever made it to the state finals.
“I’m very proud,” said Gasti, who started Friday’s game and allowed just six singles and two runs. “We had a great team. We just had a bad day. It was bound to happen sometime.”
The loss snapped a 21-game winning streak, and left Carmichaels’ final 2008 record at 23-2.
Throughout the course of their 25-game season, the Mikes overcame several injuries, and lost just once during the regular season.
Once the playoffs began, Carmichaels received a bye, then won three straight WPIAL games, the last being a 4-3 victory over Rochester in the District 7 title game.
The WPIAL championship was Carmichaels’ third in the past six years.
The Mikes opened the state playoffs with back-to-back shutout wins over Keystone (10-0) and Homer Center (7-0), before defeating Serra Catholic for the second time in the postseason.
“It’s definitely an accomplishment to be here (in the state title game),” Gasti said. “I’d definitely rather have our season end here than three or four games ago.”
Carmichaels faced Camp Hill without one of its top players after junior left-hander Joby Lapkowicz chipped a bone in his right ankle while running the bases against Serra in the PIAA semifinals.
Lapkowicz had surgery the following day, and was forced into the role of spectator as his teammates battled for a state title.
Carmichaels loses four starters to graduation – Cody Andrews, Robinson, Ethan Virgili and Durbin – but has the good fortune to have Lapkowicz and Gasti back.
The pair gives Carmichaels arguably the best 1-2 pitching combination in Class A, perhaps in both the WPIAL and PIAA.
The loss to Camp Hill already has some of the Mikes looking ahead to next season.
“I think we’re going to be very hungry,” Gasti said. “I think we’re going to work a little harder and go the extra mile.”