Lost art
Bunt single opens up 4-run 1st inning as Mikes advance to semifinals
WEST MIFFLIN 鈥� Who says bunting is a lost art in baseball?
Not Carmichaels coach Dickie Krause, who had leadoff batter Colin Andrews bunt for a hit to begin Tuesday蘑菇视频 game in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class A baseball playoffs at West Mifflin High School.
The Mikes, who added a bunt single and a sacrifice bunt in the seventh inning, carried the momentum from Andrews鈥� single for a four-run first that led to a 6-3 victory over Leechburg.
鈥淭hat was the plan,鈥� said Krause in reference to opening the game with a bunt. 鈥淭he whole idea of doing that to start the game was, one, we do it well and have a fast leadoff guy, and we wanted to press them.
鈥淭heir defensive alignment helped us out a little bit, too, because they were cheating him hard to pull, and the second baseman actually started the play not far from the second-base bag. He (Andrews) put the perfect bunt down and that got everything going.鈥�
Carmichaels鈥� win puts Krause蘑菇视频 team in today蘑菇视频 semifinal against Eden Christian Academy (15-4) and a berth in the state playoffs. The game was originally scheduled for Wednesday at West Mifflin, but the forecast called for inclement weather that pushed all WPIAL baseball games back one day. This evening蘑菇视频 game at Gateway High School is scheduled to start at 7.
The Blue Devils鈥� season came to an end at 15-4.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 give a good team more than three outs in an inning,鈥� Leechburg coach Heath Shimer said. 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 played in like 11 days. We had some scrimmages, but it was just that bad first inning.鈥�
After leading off with a base hit, Andrews advanced to second on a wild pitch, and third on Robbie Wilson-Jones鈥� single to center field.
Andrews scored on a passed ball and Wilson-Jones moved to third with Jordan Davis batting.
Davis walked, and with Dillon Fisher batting, stole second, which allowed Wilson-Jones to score for a 2-0 lead. Fisher walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch that put Davis at third before both scored on Brayden Andrews鈥� single to right field for a 4-0 advantage.
The Mikes (14-4) extended their lead to 5-0 in the second when Wilson-Jones was hit-by-pitch, advanced to second on an error, third on a balk and scored on Cooper Richards鈥� base hit to left field.
鈥淭his has been a consummate team effort,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淲e have eight seniors. I can鈥檛 say we are a senior-dominant team. We are a senior-laden team, but five of these kids did not play a lot of baseball last year, and they鈥檝e stepped up and everybody has been contributing.鈥�
Leechburg cut the deficit to 5-1 in the bottom of the third when Chase Henry led off the frame with a single and advanced to third on Mason Bertino蘑菇视频 base hit to right field before scoring when Jake Cummings reached on a fielder蘑菇视频 choice to shortstop.
Carmichaels got the run it conceded back in the next half-inning when Davis singled to right field and pinch runner Chase Ankrom scored on a wild pitch for a 6-1 advantage.
Jase Zdravecky had a solid outing in earning the win on the mound. The senior allowed three runs (one earned) on seven hits over 6 鈪� innings. He struck out three and didn鈥檛 walk a batter. Zdravecky threw 99 pitches (66 strikes).
The Blue Devils scored two unearned runs in the seventh inning, and had the tying run at the plate, but the Mikes were able to hang on.
Wilson-Jones relieved Zdravecky with two outs in the seventh and a 6-2 lead after Leechburg scored on an error. Wilson-Jones gave up a single to left field to cut the deficit to three before recording a strikeout to end the game and earn the save.
鈥淛ase has been great for us, and it all started with him,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淲e had a decision to make because our No. 1 (Andrews) was available, but he threw 103 pitches on Thursday in our last game.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 think he, with only four days, would be more effective, but I can鈥檛 say enough about Jase and Colin (Andrews) because they have been such an incredible 1A and 1B for us. We have a lot of confidence in Robbie coming in as a closer.鈥�
Wilson-Jones and Parker Hewitt had two hits apiece.
Leechburg蘑菇视频 Landon Turiak doubled to center field with one out in the sixth inning for the lone extra-base hit. The Mikes got out of the inning on a 6-3-5 double play, as the Blue Devils attempted to race to third after the second out was recorded at first base.
Bertino, Cummings and Henry had two hits apiece for Leechburg.
Henry came on in relief of starter Steven Senjan in the second inning and allowed one earned run on four hits over 5 鈪�. He had six strikeouts and walked four.