May 19, 2026 By Bill Hughes 4 min read

WASHINGTON — Carmichaels and West Greene defended their seeds in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class A softball playoffs at the same field Monday night at Trinity Middle School to set-up a showdown between the traditional softball powers and Greene County rivals.

While the third-seeded Pioneers had a relatively easy time with South Side Beaver in a 15-1 victory that ended in the fifth inning due to the 10-run rule, the second-seeded Mikes battled tooth-and-nail with seventh-seeded Sewickley Academy before pulling out a 1-0 triumph.

Carmichaels (16-4) and West Greene (13-7) will meet on Thursday in the semifinals for the opportunity to play for a WPIAL championship. The site and time have yet to be determined.

The Mikes’ coaches and players would most-likely state the win was what was most important against the Panthers, but starting pitcher Bailey Barnyak reached and broke a milestone in Carmichaels softball history with her second of 19 strikeouts.

The mark was for career strikeouts, which was held by Barnyak’s mother, Nikki Gasti-Onderko, who held the record for 27 years.

Gasti-Onderko fanned 850 batters, but Barnyak now has 868 after recording a single-game high for strikeouts.

“That was a great feeling,” Barnyak said while standing next to her mother, who is an assistant coach on the team.

The pair hugged, with Gasti-Onderko adding with tears welled up in her eyes, “Is there anything better than this, your kid breaking your record?”

On a night when the offense couldn’t get going for Carmichaels, Barnyak drove in the lone run of the game with an RBI triple in the bottom of the fifth. She also allowed one hit over seven innings for the shutout.

“It was the Bailey show tonight,” said Carmichaels coach Dave Briggs. “We were a little tight offensively, but she did it pitching and on offense.”

“It is a mind game,” said Barnyak, an IUP commit, in reference to driving in the game-winning run off Sewickley Academy pitcher Charlotte Andrews, who had 14 strikeouts and the lone hit for her team. “Whatever it takes. Anytime I step on this field, I do it for my teammates and not for me.”

The Mikes’ Ke’Lani Chun singled and scored on Barnyak’s triple. Chun also tripled, and teammate Joselyn Carter doubled. Payton Plavi singled as Carmichaels had five hits.

The Pioneers wasted no time in putting away the Rams, as they scored early and often.

A big key for the West Greene, who finished with 18 hits, was the bottom three hitters in the lineup — Sammi Zimmerman (double triple, one RBI); Katie Brudnock (two singles and one RBI; and Rylee Yeager (three singles and four RBIs) — combined for seven hits and six RBIs.

“Today was a really good day and I was feeling good,” Yeager said. “It was great to see us hit, and I am happy for everyone.”

Pioneers head coach Billy Simms was pleased to see production from the bottom of the lineup.

“Whether you are at the major league level or at this level, if you get that kind of production from the bottom of the lineup, you are going to be in for a good offensive day, and they really came through,” he said. “We emphasized hitting the first strike they saw today, and we did a good job.”

West Greene scored one run in the first, four in the second, two in the third and eight in the fourth.

Every Pioneer starter had at least once hit. Joining Zimmerman, Brudnock, and Yeager with multiple hits were Madelyn Roberts (three singles), Caitlin Whyte (three singles), and Emmaline Beazell (two singles).

Shortstop Kendra Tharp was responsible for six outs in keeping West Greene’s defense on its toes despite the comfortable lead.

“We just gritted down (in the field) and made plays,” the senior said. “Once you get in the playoffs, it is make or break, and we came together today.”

Thursday’s semifinal will be the third time the Section 2-1A rivals will play this season. The Mikes won the first two by scores of 10-0 (six innings) and 3-1.

“We played three times the last two years, and they have had our number a bit,” Simms said of Carmichaels. “It will be nice to see two county teams go at it again.”

“They are definitely coming for us,” Barnyak said. “We have been battling them for four years, and it is going to be a good game.”