Apr 28, 2018 3 min read

McDONALD – It was two games, and two weeks, into the season when Carmichaels High School baseball coach Richard Krause knew a change needed to be made.

“We just weren’t doing a lot of smart things,” Krause said. “So, we simplified everything. We changed our approach, how we coached and taught them. We have tried to be attentive to detail. We want to be demanding (as a coaching staff) so there is a certain respect and approach to the game.”

Now, after nine straight wins, two has turned into the magic number for the Mikes.

Carmichaels used a three-run homer to right centerfield from Al Cree that ended a six-run second inning, then leaned on sophomore pitcher Logan Mayhle to defeat Fort Cherry, 13-2, in a Section 1-AA game and bring the Mikes within two wins of their first section title since 2013.

“We have stacked wins,” Krause said. “It’s a cliché but we’ve been taking it one batter at a time, one inning at a time and one game at a time. Then you look up and see you’re in a pretty nice position.”

Combine another solid performance for Carmichaels (9-1, 9-2) with a sloppy outing by the Rangers, who played their first error-free inning in the fourth, and it made for a lopsided game early in a battle of teams atop the section standings.

The first five batters for the Mikes in the second reached base safely – four singles and an error – before Cree’s bomb gave them a 7-1 lead. It also gave Mayhle a comfortable lead on the mound to have what Krause called the most complete game in his high-school career.

“(Having a lead) was huge because I was able to work around the strike zone, trying to get them to fish a little bit” Mayhle said. “I am also throwing fastballs for strikes.”

Mayhle was able to escape a bases-loaded situation in the fifth and had induced an inning-ending double play in the sixth to avoid trouble. Fort Cherry (6-3, 6-3) helped the Mikes’ starting pitcher by making mistakes on the bases to limit the damage to only one run in the third inning.

“We had a bad day,” Fort Cherry coach Bob Sawhill said. “The seven physical errors are bad enough. The mental errors are twice as bad. You are down six runs and you run yourself off the bases. That’s what killed us.”

Mayhle struck out five, scattered eight hits and only needed 88 pitches to finish the game.

“When it was most important, he stepped up,” Krause said about Mayhle. “Every time he got into trouble, he threw a big pitch.”

The offensive outburst continued when Mayhle hit his first home run at the varsity level in the fifth, then he scored on a Cree double as part of a three-run seventh. Five of the nine batters in the Carmichaels’ starting lineup recorded at least two hits.

In the Mikes nine consecutive wins, they have scored at least 10 runs in eight of those games. None of those margin of victories has been fewer than three runs.

“We lost five really good kids from last year, but I think, 1 through 9, we are more balanced,” Krause said. “We are getting smarter at the plate. We have nice protection behind some of our better hitters. We have a lot of good, solid hitters that have been consistent in their approach.”

Cree led Carmichaels with three hits and five RBI.

“Today was our most complete game,” Krause said. “We have improved a great deal from simplifying things.”