Freshmen shine in Lady Mikes’ win over C-H
CARMICHAELS — There are certain expectations playing for a Class A girls softball team, especially for freshmen.
If you have talent, there is no waiting to play or working a player in slowly. The numbers on the roster are so low that waiting is not an option.
So for three freshmen in Carmichaels’ 6-3 victory over Chartiers-Houston in Section 2-A, shortstop Carys McConnell and pitcher Bailey Barnyak of the Lady Mikes and shortstop Lauren Rush of the Lady Bucs, much was expected.
The bar was raised pretty high and each, in their own way, surpassed it.
“I was really proud of what we did at the plate,” said Carmichaels head coach Dave Briggs. “I was happy with the way they battled at the plate. We put the pressure on them, ran the bases well, took the extra base.”
McConnell went 3-for-3, scored three times and drove in two runs. She was credited with two triples, one being a heads-up running play on a ball hit up the middle.
Her baseball instincts posted Carmichaels (2-0, 5-0) to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. She hit a looper to right field, then on a steal attempt of second base the throw from catcher Ella Richey found its was into center field. McConnell got up and charged toward third base, the ball and McConnell arrived at the same time, causing the throw to get away from Kaileigh Walton and allowing McConnell to score the game’s first run.
“She’s tremendous. Can she hit the ball or what?” Briggs said. “She knows how to run the bases. She turned that one play into a triple. She’s added a lot of punch to our offense with her speed and power.”
Barnyak was charged with three earned runs but it could have been so much worse. Barnyak wiggled out of a bases-loaded, no-outs situation in the second inning and a two-on, two-out situation in the top of the fifth.
“We just couldn’t get a clutch hit with two out,s” said Chartiers-Houston head coach Tricia Alderson. “I like the way we battled. We get to play them again in a few weeks so we’ll see what develops.”
Rush, a three-sport athlete at Chartiers-Houston (0-1, 0-4), went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI. Her screamer over the left-field fence went for a home run and she walked and scored in Chartiers-Houston’s two-run fifth inning.
“She’s just a great athlete,” Alderson said. “She plays hard, plays well, a good kid. She knows the game and has a lot of power.”
Sophomore starter Meadow Ferri, who was charged with nine of the 12 runs scored in a C-H 12-9 loss to McGuffey in a non-section game Wednesday, rallied from that rough start by going six innings and allowing just five earned runs.
Ferri drove in two of the three runs the Bucs scored on a double to right field in the fifth.
Barnyak went seven innings, allowing five hits and three earned runs while striking out 12. Her walk total of five was a little disconcerting but she managed to avoid too much trouble.
Three of those walks came at the start of the second inning. But Barnyak struck out Walton, Paiton Higgins and Alexis Fetsko to get out of the jam.
These two teams played in Class AA last year but in different sections. Now, the two are together with West Greene in a tough Section 2.
“It’s been seven years since we’ve been back down in Class A,” said Alderson. “I know some things. There are a lot of good teams in this section.”