May 20, 2014 3 min read

CALIFORNIA – Fresh off earning the No. 2 seed in the WPIAL Class A softball bracket and having reached the finals in each of the last two seasons, Carmichaels had high hopes of earning a third crack at the title game.

Instead, the Mikes couldn’t get past the quarterfinal round.

South Side Beaver’s offense exploded over the final three innings and dealt Carmichaels a stunning 10-3 loss Tuesday at California University’s Lilley Field.

“We knew the middle of their lineup was pretty potent,” said Mikes coach Dave Briggs with a wry chuckle. “It cost us a little bit there in the middle.”

Carmichaels jumped on South Side Beaver (15-3) starter McKenna Smith for a pair of runs in the first two innings but left several other base runners stranded. That inability to capitalize cost the Mikes once the Rams saw pitcher Erica Burns the second time through.

After Burns was thrown out to end the top of the fourth trying to reach second base on a single, South Side Beaver immediately seized the momentum. The Rams had gotten only two base runners – a walk and a hit – through the first three innings but opened their half of the fourth with three straight singles to load the bases.

Then, Toni Yacoviello deposited the first pitch she saw from Burns just over the wall in straightaway center field, narrowly out of the reach of Mia Virgili’s glove, for a grand slam and a 4-2 Rams lead.

“It was a matter of getting our timing down,” said South Side Beaver coach Theresa Waxler. “The momentum (from the top of the fourth) was big for us.”

From there, the game became a tale of two offenses. Carmichaels was shut down in order in the fifth and sixth innings, while South Side Beaver piled on. An error followed by an RBI double from Sarah Androlia in the Rams’ half of the fifth extended the lead to three, then Androlia later scored on a wild pitch.

Any hope the Mikes had of a comeback was snuffed out in the sixth inning when the Rams scored four more times, the big blow coming on a three-run homer by Connor McGaffic.

Carmichaels did put four runners on base in the seventh, scoring once, but the Mikes had one runner thrown out at second and one at third to end the game.

Smith rebounded from the early trouble to scatter seven hits – four came in the first three innings – and struck out six. She didn’t walk a batter and all three Carmichaels runs were unearned.

“McKenna gets stronger as the game goes on,” said Waxler.

Burns had three of Carmichaels’ hits. She drove in two runs and scored one.

Carmichaels’ season ends at 14-4. The Mikes tied Jefferson-Morgan for the section title, their eighth straight season atop the standings.

“People didn’t think we could get the section again,” said Briggs. “I’m proud of the girls. I knew this would be a tough game. I knew we’d have to score runs to beat them, and more than three, and that’s what it turned out to be.”