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Mikes upset Sewickley Academy, 6-1

By Rob Burchianti rburchianti@heraldstandard.Com 4 min read

UPPER ST. CLAIR — Different coach. Different cast.

Same result.

Even going through some changes, Carmichaels’ baseball tradition continues to thrive.

The Mikes appeared in the WPIAL Class A championship game and won a PIAA playoff game a year ago, but entered this season with a different head coach in Dickie Krause and an almost entirely new starting lineup.

Even so, Carmichaels fashioned a 12-3 regular season, finished 7-3 and in second place in Section 1-A and made the postseason.

Now the surprising 2015 squad can add a WPIAL playoff victory to its resume.

Jacob Kinsell continually worked out of trouble in tossing a complete game and Michael Blasinsky and Jacob Wamsley each drove in a pair of runs as the 10th-seeded Mikes upended seventh-seeded Sewickley Academy, 6-1, in their first-round game at Upper St. Clair on Tuesday.

Next up for the Mikes will be second-seeded Greensburg Central Catholic in the quarterfinals on Monday with the site and time to be determined. The Centurions defeated No. 15 Riverview, 11-1, on Tuesday,

“That’s a real nice win for us,” Krause said. “If you would’ve told me in February … you never go in keeping your expectations low, but you’ve got seven or eight kids who played today who didn’t play at all last year. We had one kid back who started the whole year.

“They’re just a great group of kids.”

That one full-time returning starter was Blasinsky, the Mikes’ only senior who showed his value with a clutch two-out, two-run double in the fifth inning that proved to be the deciding blow. The Mikes were nursing a 1-0 lead up until that point.

“That was huge,” Krause said.

Darren Krause started the rally with a lead-off single and Joel Spishock singled one out later.

Panthers starting pitcher Joe Nagel looked like he might get out of the jam after a fly out, but Blasinsky followed with a shot to center field. He then scored from second on an infield error and suddenly it was 4-0 and the Mikes could breathe easier.

“He’s been as good as any Class A player anywhere,” coach Krause said of Blasinsky. “He’s hitting over .540 for the year, all kinds of RBIs. He’s just been money all year long, and a great kid, too.”

The Mikes jumped on Nagel for a run in the first when Bill Bowlen singled, moved to second on Blasinsky’s ground out and scored on Wamsley’s single.

Kinsell, who allowed eight hits, refused to buckle with men on base until allowing a sacrifice fly to Alex Malkowski in the seventh.

“He got out of every tough spot today,” Krause said. “He’s learning how to pitch. He didn’t have anything resembling his ‘A’ stuff. His velocity was down, but he mixed in a lot of change-ups, a lot of curve balls.”

Sewickley (9-7), which finished in a three-way tie for the Section 3-A title, had men on base every inning and stranded 12 runners.

Panthers coach Andrew Heck was frustrated by his team’s lack of production with runners on.

“We really didn’t hit the ball very well in general, couple bloop singles, couple balls that bounced over guys’ heads,” Heck said. “Credit their guy. He kept us off balance.”

Kinsell struck out four, walked two and hit two batters.

The Mikes (13-3) knocked Nagel out of the game in the top of the seventh after Reed Long singled, Spishock doubled and Bowlen doubled in Long. Wamsley added a sacrifice fly against reliever Drew Johnson to make it 6-0.

Nagel allowed five earned runs on nine hits with no walks, one hit batter and five strikeouts.

“I liked their team approach offensively,” Heck said. “They squared up on the ball, even the guys at the bottom of their lineup.”

Johnson led the Panthers with two doubles and a single, and Stephen Klemash also had three hits.

Spishock, Bowlen and Tyler Martin had two hits apiece for the Mikes.

The game featured a strong wind blowing out towards right field, but Krause and his team were aware of the conditions and discussed it before arriving.

“Credit to my dad,” Krause said of a morning call he received. “He said, ‘Hey, 30 mile-per-hour wind, you better be ready.'”

When it comes to baseball, it seems the Mikes are always ready.

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