Top notch: Carmichaels, Waynesburg consistent winners in baseball
Carmichaels pitcher Dylan Wilson throws a pitch against California during a Section 1-AA game at Carmichaels High School last season. Wilson pitched the final three innings in relief of starter Matthew Barrish to earn the save in the Mikes鈥� 13-5 victory. Both Wilson and Barrish return for the Mikes this year. (Photo by Rob Burchianti)
Carmichaels鈥� Matt Barish throws a pitch against California during last year蘑菇视频 Section 1-AA game at Malden Yards. Barrish went the distance on a six-hitter as the Mikes defeated the Trojans, 10-2. Barrish returns to the Mikes for his senior season. (Photo by Lori C. Padilla)
Jonathan Guth | 蘑菇视频
Carmichaels鈥� Dylan Wilson (right) watches teammate Gavin Pratt score during a Section 1-AA game against Bentworth last year. Both Wilson and Pratt return for the Mikes this season.
The Carmichaels and Waynesburg Central baseball programs have been two of the most consistent spring sports teams in Greene County this decade, and both will look to continue that momentum in 2019 in revamped sections.
The Mikes, who were 3-0 at the beginning of the week, will call Section 1-AA home this spring and their section opener was on Wednesday against Chartiers-Houston.The continue section play today at Burgettstown.
The Raiders, who were 1-2 at the beginning of the week, are back in Section 3-AAA this season and they began section play on Wednesday versus Keystone Oaks and they play at Southmoreland today.
Here蘑菇视频 a quick look at what to expect from both clubs in 2019.
Carmichaels
The standard is always set pretty high when it comes to the Carmichaels baseball program, as the Mikes has qualified for the postseason 18 consecutive years and have compiled three WPIAL titles.
In 2018, Carmichaels posted an 11-6 record and won its first section title since 2013 with an 11-3 mark in Section 1-AA.
After receiving a first-round bye, the Mikes suffered a 15-7 loss to Shenango in the quarterfinals.
鈥淲e are always looking to take that next step,鈥� Carmichaels coach Richard Krause said. 鈥淲e had two big goals last year, to win the section and to win a playoff game. It was a very good year for us last season, but that playoff loss stings. During the stretch run, we lost four of our last five. We have to learn how to finish off a season and that experience last season will only help us in the future.鈥�
The Mikes lost three senior starters from a year ago, so expectations are once again high this spring.
鈥淲e have a lot of depth this season and we can go two-deep in most positions,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淚 always tell the kids that we are good enough to beat anybody in our section, but if we don鈥檛 focus on us or if we take anything for granted, we can lose to anybody in our section.鈥�
Carmichaels remains in Section 1-AA after realignment but will welcome in defending WPIAL Class AAA champion Brownsville this year. The other teams in the section are Bentworth, Burgettstown, Chartiers-Houston, Frazier and Fort Cherry.
鈥淚 know Brownsville lost a lot of seniors from last year蘑菇视频 team, but they are so well-coached and will be a force in our section this year,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淭hey know how to win baseball games. Fort Cherry and Chartiers-Houston will also be formidable again this season.鈥�
The Mikes averaged 8.9 runs per game in 2018, and you can expect a steady offense this spring led by junior Al Cree, who batted a team-high .439 with 18 RBI蘑菇视频.
Junior Dylan Wilson is also another critical part to the offense, coming off a season where he held a .397 batting average and led the team in RBIs (25), doubles (seven) and stolen bases (11).
Other offensive contributors that will be looking to make an impact on the diamond in 2019 are senior Collin Reynolds (.357 last season) and sophomore Gavin Pratt (.328). Other key names in the lineup for the Mikes will be junior Zach Gamble, a Jefferson-Morgan transfer, and sophomore Stush Ferek.
鈥淥ne through nine in our lineup, we are pretty balanced,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淲e may not have a lot of home run power, but I feel like a lot of our kids have that gap-power and can put together a lot of doubles for us. All of our kids in our lineup have their roles and they know how to help this team out.鈥�
The pitching staff will once again be led by senior Matthew Barrish. In 2018, Barrish went 5-2 with a 1.36 ERA and registered 26 strikeouts over 36 innings.
Adding depth to the staff will be junior Logan Mayhle, who went 2-2 last year with 28 strikeouts over 24.2 innings, Wilson, Pratt and freshmen Drake Long and Nick Ricco.
鈥淧itching will always be key for us,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淢atthew has been are No. 1 pitcher for the last couple of seasons and he knows how to pitch in big games. Logan is always improving, and he took a big step for us last year. I like our starters, we just need more consistency from our relievers this spring.鈥�
Waynesburg Central
To say that last season ended abruptly for the Waynesburg Central baseball team would be an understatement.
In their Class AAA first-round match-up against Shady Side Academy last spring, the Raiders fell behind 6-0 in the first two innings. They battled back and tallied three runs in the bottom of the fifth to bring the deficit to 6-5.
They had all the momentum in the postseason contest, but then the rains came. And then came and came the whole night, forcing the officials to call the game and to award Shady Side a 6-5 win.
Definitely a disappointed ending for first-year coach Jamie Moore.
鈥淚t left a bitter taste,鈥� Moore said. 鈥淚 have never seen that happen before in the playoffs. We were hitting our stride and then just like that, game was over and our season was over. We haven鈥檛 talked too much about that game this spring, but I think in the back of our minds we are using it as motivation.鈥�
Moore said the experienced Raiders are ready for 2019 and he is excited about the team蘑菇视频 prospects.
鈥淭his is a mature group and they have played at a high level for the last couple of seasons,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have eight seniors and four juniors, and they lead this team with their play on the field. We have had some really good practices to start the year off and the boys are ready to go.鈥�
Waynesburg went 10-5 last year and recorded an 8-4 mark in the section, which was good for second place behind the WPIAL Class AAA champion Brownsville.
In 2019, Section 3-AAA will look a little different after realignment as Brownsville drops down to Class AA. Joining the Raiders in the section will be Beth-Center, Charleroi, Keystone Oaks, McGuffey, Southmoreland and Washington.
鈥淭here蘑菇视频 a lot of question marks in this section,鈥� Moore said. 鈥淲e will face some new faces and that kind of makes it fun for the boys. We know we can鈥檛 take any games off, and we have to play our best baseball every single day. We are hoping to bring the same winning recipe from last year.鈥�
Offensively, Waynesburg will be led by senior Kyle Shriver, who last year led the team in average (.356), RBIs (15) and stolen bases (10).
Other notable producers on offense from last year are seniors Kyle Blasco and Nick Zator, both .300 hitters last year, juniors Luke Robinson (.275) and Trevor Stephenson (.318) and sophomore Tyler Switalski (.333).
The Raiders also have depth in their pitching rotation starting with Robinson (3-1 last year with a 1.96 ERA and 34 strikeouts), Shriver (12 strikeouts in 8.1 innings) and senior Evan Zimmer (nine strikeouts in 13.1 innings).