Mikes earn first-round bye in Class AA playoffs
Most high school baseball and softball teams started the 2018 WPIAL playoffs this week, but the Carmichaels baseball team received a first round bye in Class AA and will start the postseason this Monday.
The fourth-seeded Mikes will play the either fifth-seeded Shenango (12-7) or 12th-seeded Bishop Canevin (8-8) in the quarterfinals with a site and time to be determined.
鈥淲e knew it was a possibility that we could get that first round bye,鈥� Carmichaels coach Dickie Krause said. 鈥淕oing into the release of the brackets, we thought we could be anywhere between a four, five or six seed. We were pretty surprised we got the four and the bye. There are good and bad connotations with the bye and the extended layoff. I鈥檓 happy for our kids.鈥�
Carmichaels is one of the most consistent programs in Greene County, qualifying for the playoffs for the 18th straight season and 20 of the last 21 years.
The Mikes have advanced to the WPIAL championship game six times since 2003 and have collected three WPIAL titles (2003, 2005, 2008).
Carmichaels has lost in the first round of the playoffs in each of the past last two seasons. The Mikes beat Sewickley Academy in the first round in 2015 and then lost to eventual champion Greensburg Central Catholic in the quarterfinals.
鈥淥ur kids are excited for the playoffs,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淲e know about the strong tradition here at Carmichaels, but every year is different in high school baseball. The playoffs are tough no matter what seed you are or who you face in any round. The weather this week has hampered us a little with practice outside. We are trying to fit in a scrimmage with Brownsville so that our kids can be in baseball shape.鈥�
The Mikes grabbed their first section title since 2013 with an 11-3 mark in Section 1-AA play.
鈥淚鈥檓 really proud of the team for winning the section,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淚t蘑菇视频 been awhile since we done that, and I knew at the beginning of the season that we were capable of winning it. This team works hard and is mentally tough. This was a tough section, on any given day anybody could beat anybody. We were in a lot of close, tight games. Hopefully that will help us in the playoffs.鈥�
West Greene softball also received a first round bye as the top seed in Class A.
The Lady Pioneers (16-4) will play eighth-seeded St. Joseph (11-4) at a date, time and site to be determined to start their quest at winning the WPIAL title for the third straight season.
Only six teams in WPIAL softball history have won at least three championships in a row: Swissvale (1979-1982), Baldwin (1989-1991), Baldwin (1993-1996), Sto-Rox (2000-2004), Chartiers-Houston (2005-2007), and Vincentian Academy (2008-2010).
鈥淲e know what蘑菇视频 in front of us,鈥� West Greene coach Billy Simms said. 鈥淭his group is battle-tested and we know how to handle all of the playoff pressures. We are actually just excited to practice these last couple of days. The last week and a half of the regular season we played so many games in a row that we really didn鈥檛 have time to practice. It was nice to cool things down and get prepared for the playoffs.鈥�
The Waynesburg Central and West Greene baseball teams also got their playoffs started on Wednesday.
The seventh-seeded Raiders (10-4) faced Shady Side Academy in the first round of the Class AAA playoffs, while the ninth-seeded Pioneers (7-10) played against Cornell in the opening round of the Class A playoffs.
The quarterfinals of the Class A and AAA baseball playoffs are set to resume on Monday.