Carmichaels fine with No. 9 in a row
Carmichaels Laura Walker raises her hands while celebrating with her team after winning 5-3 the sectional championships on Friday, May against McGuffey.
Carmichaels’ Natalie McNett rounds third based during the third inning Friday.
Carmichaels’ Caroline Cree, left, and Erica Burns celebrate after the Mikes defeated McGuffey Friday.
McGuffey head coach Jason Kern meets with the team during the fifth inning against Carmichaels Friday.
CLAYSVILLE – When the WPIAL softball season began in late March, there was little talk around the district regarding Carmichaels.
Though the Mikes had reached the Class A title game in 2012 and ’13, as well as winning eight consecutive section titles, they were moving to Double-A and were all but dismissed as a true contender in a section featuring McGuffey and Waynesburg, teams that won playoff games last season.
Carmichaels’ players did not mind being overlooked. Winning is all that matters to the Mikes and they continued the trend Friday afternoon.
Erica Burns tossed a complete game with seven strikeouts and Carmichaels used a two-run third inning to defeat McGuffey, 5-2, to clinch at least a share of the Section 2-AA title.
It is the Mikes’ ninth consecutive section championship and their first in Class AA. They can clinch the title outright with a win Tuesday at Waynesburg, but a loss and a win by McGuffey over Washington would force a tie.
“It feels really good. Everything I have worked so hard for has paid off,” Burns said. “It’s a good feeling. We moved to Double-A and we were kind of forgotten about, but we’re obviously still here. It definitely motivated us to do better. We did it.”
Burns allowed eight hits but held the Highlanders (11-2, 12-2) to 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, stranding six runners and not recording an extra-base hit. She also helped with her glove.
With two outs and runners on first and second in the fifth inning, McGuffey’s Moriah McGuier hit a towering popup that moved toward the fence near Carmichaels’ dugout.
Instead of letting catcher Katie Mays attempt to make the difficult play, Burns sprinted toward the fence and made the catch to end the inning.
“She’s tough. That’s all you can say about her,” Carmichaels head coach Dave Briggs said. “She proved today why she’s one of the premier players. You saw the play when she caught the foul ball near the fence. There aren’t too many people who can make that play. That was pretty impressive.”
After losing to McGuffey, 6-1, Monday with an offense that struggled to hit McGueir, the Mikes (12-1, 12-3) were aggressive when ahead in the count and forced the Highlanders’ righty to work out of tough situations.
McGuffey took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when senior shortstop Sammie Weiss, who went 4-for-4 with a run and an RBI, scored on an error, but Burns forced the Highlanders to strand runners on first and second.
Her offense returned the favor. Freshman Megan Walker led off the second inning with a single and scored on an error. The Mikes added two more runs in the third inning on RBI singles by sophomore Natalie McNett, who went 2-for-4 with two runs, and Walker for a 3-1 lead.
“They just made the hits when they needed to,” McGuffey head coach Jason Kern said. “They found the gaps. It’s not like Erica overpowered us at all. We put the bat on the ball, but we hit it at people and they made the plays.”
Burns did not allow a McGuffey player to reach second base again until the fifth inning, when the Highlanders trailed 5-1. One day after stealing 11 bases against Brownsville, the Highlanders had a runner thrown out attempting to steal second in both the second and third innings, including a strikeout and throw-out in the second.
Carmichaels took a 5-1 lead in the fifth inning when McNett and Mays hit back-to-back one-out singles before the Mikes loaded the bases on a walk by Laura Walker.
McGuier, who struck out nine, walked in two runs on full-count pitches. McGuffey scored one run in the seventh inning on a two-out RBI single by Weiss to draw the score to 5-2, but Burns got a line out to second to end the game.
“They all feel good,” Briggs said of the section titles. “This one this year, going up to Double-A, we were disappointed because we wanted to say in Class A. We had a ton of success in Class A. These seniors have been to two WPIAL title games and played in some state playoff games. That experience paid off today.”