Mikes, Rockets lead Section 1-A charge into quarterfinals
UPPER ST. CLAIR 鈥� Carmichaels scored a run in the first, four in the second and never looked back, cruising to a 9-1 win over Union in a WPIAL Class A first-round baseball playoff game at Boyce Mayview Park on Thursday.
The sixth-seeded Mikes (13-4), along with Jefferson-Morgan, Greensburg Central Catholic and Avella, gave Section 1, which didn鈥檛 have a team seeded higher than fifth (GCC) in the pairings, a clean sweep in the first round of the playoffs.
The Rockets (14-3) defeated Winchester Thurston, 11-4, the Centurions (16-2) shut down Sewickley Academy, 14-0, and the Eagles blanked Western Beaver, 5-0.
Carmichaels advances to Tuesday蘑菇视频 quarterfinals where it will play third-seeded Leechburg in a 7 p.m. game at West Mifflin.
Robbie-Wilson Jones led the way offensively for the sixth-seeded Mikes, going 2 for 4 with a walk, four RBIs and two runs.
On the mound, Colin Andrews went the distance and allowed just one run for the win.
For coach Richard Krause, it was the latest chapter of what蘑菇视频 been a fun ride during this 2025 season.
鈥淲e went in, and we were the quintessential 鈥榦ne-game-at-a-time鈥� team,鈥� Krause said. 鈥淲e weren鈥檛 going to look past anybody. We weren鈥檛 going to take anybody lightly. We were hoping teams would take us lightly.
鈥淭here was some chatter about (us being) down this year. We didn鈥檛 make any of the top tens, and we lost six senior starters last year. So I don鈥檛 think anybody thought this would happen except this group of people. And they just keep working.鈥�
Carmichaels went up 1-0 in the first inning. With runners on second and third and nobody out, Jordan Davis drove in Wilson-Jones with a groundout.
The Mikes put up four more runs in the second. Wilson-Jones made it 4-0 on one swing with a two-out, bases-clearing double. Another run came in on a double steal with Wilson-Jones scoring to make it 5-0.
Wilson-Jones drove in another run in the fourth with a single to make it 6-0. Davis鈥� RBI single one batter later effectively put the game to bed.
Brayden Andrews was 3 for 4 and Connor Lapana drove in a run for the Mikes.
Carmichaels will now take on No. 3 Leechburg Tuesday at a time and venue to be determined.
Keeghan Kupka had a single and the lone RBI for the 11th-seeded Scotties (7-10).
Avella 5, Western Beaver 0 鈥� Preceding the Mikes鈥� win at Boyce Mayview Park was the Eagles鈥� victory over the Golden Beavers, thanks to a two-hit shutout by Byrce Wright.
Avella, which entered the postseason on a six-game losing streak, won playoff games in consecutive years for the first time in program history under coach Jason Fogg. The Eagles reached the WPIAL final four and won a PIAA game last year, both also program firsts.
Avella will face No. 2 Eden Christian, which defeated the Eagles in both the WPIAL and PIAA playoffs a year ago, in a 4 p.m. game Tuesday at Burkett Park.
Avella started the season winning 10 of their first 11 games, including 5-1 over Western Beaver on March 19, before its losing skid.
Brayden Fuller had two hits for the Eagles
Jefferson-Morgan 11, Winchester Thurston 4 鈥� John Woodward relieved starting pitcher Drew Adams after a rocky first inning and tossed 5 鈪� strong innings in the eighth-seeded Rockets鈥� victory over the Bears at Norwin.
Coach John Curtis鈥� squad improved to 14-3 and extended its winning streak to 13 games.
Joe Bair had two hits and three RBIs and Brayden Ellsworth contributed two singles and two RBIs for Jefferson-Morgan which also got two hits and an RBI from Dayten Marion and a single and two RBIs from Woodward.
Winchester Thurston took a 3-0 lead in the first inning on a two-run single by Sam McComb and a bases-loaded walk by Ben Kogan.
The Rockets answered immediately with two runs in the bottom of the inning on Woodward蘑菇视频 run-scoring groundout and Marion蘑菇视频 RBI single.
Jefferson-Morgan went in front to stay in the second inning with a three-run rally that included RBI singles by Jamison Robinson and Deakyn DeHoet.
Bair hit an RBI single in a two-run third that put J-M up 7-2.
Both teams scored a run in the fifth to make it 8-3. The Rockets put the game away with a three-run sixth that included a two-run single by Ellsworth and an RBI grounder by Woodward.
Jefferson-Morgan will take on top-seeded Serra Catholic Tuesday in a 4 p.m. game at Peterswood Park.