New season begins
Local softball squads ready for 1st round of state tournament
Carmichaels will experience a feeling of deja vu when it gets off the bus this afternoon in Somerset County, but Mikes head coach Dave Briggs hopes that is the only similarity.
Carmichaels is back in the PIAA softball tournament in Class A against District 5 champion Berlin Brothersvalley, who earned a 3-0 victory over Carmichaels last season at Berlin Brothersvalley High School in the first round of the Class A tournament. The game is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m.
The Mikes, who lost to Union, 6-2, last Thursday in the WPIAL championship final, have qualified for the state tournament the last four years, as the senior trio of Bailey Barnyak, Carys McConnell and Payton Plavi are used to playing softball in June.
“We are optimistic but we knew the biggest thing with the state tournament is the first game,” Briggs said. “You always get backed up with the first game because you are going to play someone good and it’s going to be on the road. We have to be in the right mental state to make a run.
“We seemed really defeated last year and had no energy when we went up there. I think we will be OK this year. We have pretty good senior leadership.”
Carmichaels (17-5) made a run to the state final two seasons ago after finishing third in District 7. The Mikes defeated three district champions on their way to the championship finale before falling to DuBois Central Catholic, 2-0.
Barnyak has been Carmichaels’ starting pitcher since her high school career began, and the Indiana University of Pennsylvania commit has earned plenty of accolades during her four years, including besting the program’s strikeout record of 850, which was held by her mom, Nikki Gasti-Onderko, who is also on Briggs’ staff.
Barnyak enters today’s game with 890 strikeouts.
McConnell and Plavi provide plenty of pop for the Mikes, but younger players have also stepped up, as sophomores Ke’Lani Chun, Joselyn Carter and Giana Colarusso, and ninth graders Bentley Lukacs and Kenlee Machesky have contributed. Sydney Miller and Avery Voithofer are the two juniors on Carmichaels’ roster.
Berlin Brothersvalley (22-2) used Sam Walker last season, and the then-ninth grader pitched a two-hit shutout over seven innings with six strikeouts and one walk. Walker has pitched this year, as she enters today’s game with a record of 9-2 and a 2.26 ERA, but junior Elena Ritchey sports a mark of 13-0 with a 1.88 ERA. She also has one save.
Walker leads the Mountaineers in batting average (.622) and Ritchey has a team-high in home runs (10) and RBIs (52). Senior Elsie Barna has nine home runs and 45 RBIs with a batting average of .533. Berlin Brothersvalley has a team batting average of .433 with 32 home runs.
While the Mikes have gotten used to playing in the state tournament, Jefferson-Morgan (17-7) will make its first appearance since 2015 when it travels to Allegheny College in Meadville to play District 10 champion Cambridge Springs (12-6).
The Rockets earned a 5-4 victory over section and Greene County rival West Greene in the consolation final to advance to the PIAA Class A championships.
Mount Pleasant advanced to the WPIAL Class 3A final, but suffered a 10-1 setback to South Park.
The youthful Vikings (15-5) weren’t on the radar to qualify for the state tournament, but coach Paul Reho is confident his group can respond with a strong performance.
“Our team is a resilient group and they will be ready to go,” Reho said. “This is the first time for our girls playing in a game like this, but for South Park, it was their third time. This experience will help our girls. We know that teams at this level will not give us games. We have to go out and earn our wins.”
Mount Pleasant will make the two-hour trip up Interstate 79 North to Allegheny College for its first-round game against District 10 champion Sharon (21-0). The first pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m.