Apr 5, 2018 By Adam Brewer for The 4 min read

CARMICHAELS — As both teams braved the elements that Mother Nature threw at them Thursday afternoon, Beth-Center rallied with the final three runs of the game to pull out a 3-2 win at Carmichaels to open up Section 1-AA baseball action.

Bailey Lincoski had the game-winning hit in the top of the seventh with a RBI single that scored Anthony Dellapenna, who started the inning off with a double.

Lincoski was 3-for-4 and scored a pair of runs for the Bulldogs (2-1, 1-0).

“It was a total team effort today,” B-C coach Frank Pryor said. “We can be really good, but unfortunately sometimes we can be our own worst enemy. We always practice the fundamentals and harp on being mentally strong. I’m really proud of a lot of kids and their composure. It’s been a while since we won a game at Carmichaels.”

Dylan Dingle picked up the win for B-C, going six innings and allowing two runs on three hits with six strikeouts and a walk on 87 pitches.

Ryan Ross came on in relief in the bottom of the seventh and picked up the save.

After recording two strikeouts to start the frame, B-C allowed a base runner after an errant throw to first base. The Bulldogs got out of the inning after a groundout to the pitcher.

There was a little controversy after the final out, as the officials were slow in calling the out until after they had a brief meeting to decide whether the first basemen caught the ball and held the bag for the final out.

“Giving that it was the last out of the game, the base umpire just wanted to make sure that their first basemen held the bag,” Carmichaels coach Richard Krause said. “It was the right call, it just took some time. That play wasn’t the reason we lost the game. We just couldn’t string together hits and we had some really bad at bats. We were awful.”

Matthew Barrish was the hard-luck loser for the Mikes (0-2, 0-1), pitching seven innings and allowing three runs on six hits with six strikeouts and a walk on 92 pitches.

After a scoreless first inning, Carmichaels grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second after back-to-back squeeze bunts by Jacob Hair and Chad Ruse.

B-C trimmed the lead to 2-1 in the top of the third when Lincoski scored on a fielder’s choice.

With one out in the top of the fifth, Lincoski reached base after a perfectly placed bunt and scored after a fielder’s choice and an errant throw to first base.

The Mikes had a quality scoring chance in the bottom of the fifth with runners on second and third with one out, but Dingle escaped the jam with a strikeout and a fly out to center.

“Dylan was outstanding,” Pryor said. “He was very economical with his pitches and threw a lot of strikes. When he needed to make the pressure pitch, he stepped up. His location was spot on and his fastball was effective. He just battled the whole game.”

Both teams went down in order in the sixth to set up late-inning heroics by Lincoski in the top of the seventh.

“Bailey has great leadership,” Pryor said. “It started with him in the fall when he took over as the quarterback for our football team under coach Joe Kuhns. Bailey is just a natural leader and he plays with a lot of poise. He is blessed with a lot of talent and I think he is getting confidence as our lead-off hitter every at bat.”

Carmichaels was limited to just three hits.

“Matt was the best part of the game for us,” Krause said. “It was unfortunate that we couldn’t give him any more runs because he pitched a great game. If he can have that type of performance the rest of the season, we are going to be in good shape. He mixed his pitches well and he just deserved better today. We need to be better at the plate.”

Both teams return to section action on Monday, as B-C hosts Chartiers-Houston and Carmichaels welcomes in Fort Cherry.