UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Pitching in her first PIAA championship game, Carmichaels sophomore Bailey Barnyak performed like a polished veteran while giving the Mighty Mikes more than enough chances to win.
The only problem? Her counterpart, DuBois Central Catholic ace Rylee Kulbatsky, was virtually flawless.
In an epic pitchers’ duel between the sophomore standouts, Kulbatsky took a perfect game into the fifth inning on her way to a dominant three-hit shutout, striking out 15 and walking none to propel DuBois Central (23-2) to its first state title with a 2-0 win in the PIAA Class 1A final at Penn State’s Beard Field. The win avenged a 7-0 loss against Carmichaels in the first round of last year’s PIAA tournament.
“It doesn’t surprise me,” DuBois Central coach George Heigel said about his stellar sophomore’s superb outing. “That’s always the goal for our program, to be here, and we finally got a win. It feels good.”
Barnyak struck out eight and walked none while allowing two runs on seven hits in seven innings of work for the Mighty Mikes (19-4), finishing her sophomore season with 228 strikeouts in 151 innings pitched.
“We fought hard to the end, and DuBois came out on top. It happens,” Barnyak said. “I’m definitely proud of our girls.”
Junior first baseman Ali Jacobs went 2 for 3 with a double, but Carmichaels could only muster up one other hit off Kulbatsky, who kept hitters off-balance all game with her lethal rise ball. Junior catcher Katie Waggett tallied the only other hit on a bunt single for the Mighty Mikes.
“Their pitcher was tough today. That was pretty much the story of the game,” said Carmichaels coach Dave Briggs. “We started to make some things happen in the last couple innings. We just couldn’t get that clutch hit to put us over the top.”
A dropped fly ball by left fielder Payton Plavi prolonged the top of the first inning, but Barnyak recorded an inning-ending strikeout to strand a runner on second. She then struck out the side in the top of the second to give her five strikeouts through the first two innings, while Kulbatsky matched her K-for-K with five punchouts of her own in the first two innings.
The game remained scoreless until the top of the fifth, when Lexi Berta hit a pop fly into a gaping hole in left-center field that fell in for a two-out double. Marina Hanes then followed with a sharp line drive right at Plavi, who nearly hauled in an incredible diving catch but couldn’t quite pull it in. That allowed Berta to score easily before Hanes was thrown out trying to advance to third, but the damage had already been done.
Meanwhile, Kulbatsky took a perfect game into the bottom of the fifth before Ali Jacobs skied a towering pop fly that fell in between two outfielders for a leadoff single. After a sacrifice bunt, Kulbatsky then fanned back-to-back batters to end the inning with the potential tying run stranded on second.
“Nothing fazed her,” Heigel said. “I was worried about throwing anything inside or outside, because they were crowding the plate so much. … That’s part of the deal, but she kept her composure and it didn’t matter to her.”
DuBois Central then added on a crucial insurance run in the top of the sixth, as Jessy Frank led off the inning with a double before coming home to score on an RBI triple by Melia Mitskavich. That made it a 2-0 deficit for the Mighty Mikes, who threatened to score with runners on first and second and one out in the bottom of the sixth, but Kulbatsky struck out Barnyak then got Carys McConnell to pop out in foul territory to escape the jam.
In the bottom of the seventh, Jacobs led off the inning by belting a double to the gap in left-center for her second hit of the game. But as she did all game long, Kulbatsky shut down the threat with a pop-out followed by back-to-back strikeouts to end the game and polish off her championship shutout.
“We could not touch her,” Barnyak said. “[She had] a lot of movement on the ball. A lot of spin. She was an amazing pitcher. I’ve got to give it to her.”
With only one senior starter and such a talented young core led by sophomore stars McConnell and Barnyak, the future couldn’t possibly be brighter for Carmichaels. And although they are getting tired of settling for silver medals, they are gaining valuable big-game experience that will likely prove vital further down the road.
The Mighty Mikes certainly have plenty to be proud of after another terrific season, but it’s safe to say the best is yet to come.
“It’s such a cool experience for the girls. The atmosphere, the feel, all the fans and support that we got,” Briggs said. “Bailey pitched well enough to win the game. I thought we played well enough to win. We were in the game. We just couldn’t do enough offensively.
“It’s hard to get here. I’ve had a lot of great teams that didn’t even get close to here. But hopefully we use it as fuel [for the future].”
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
