UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – It’s time to win.
DuBois Central Catholic is making its third trip to the PIAA Class 1A softball championship game in the past five seasons, but the Lady Cardinals are looking for their first PIAA title when they take on Carmichaels out of the WPIAL at 11 a.m. Thursday, June 13, at the Nittany Lion Softball Park on the campus of Penn State University.
“It’s not good enough anymore to get there,” DCC manager George Heigel said. “It’s time to bring home a state championship.”
While Heigel believes his team needs to win, he also knows that putting extra pressure on them to win isn’t how that is accomplished.
“We are trying to stay the course, so to speak,” Heigel said. “We are trying not to make a big deal about it. We are trying to convince everybody this is the next step. We are not talking a whole lot about it, down playing it a little bit, trying to have them enjoy the ride. We have played three really good teams so far. I think we took the harder route out east.”
By out east, Heigel means the eastern half of the PIAA bracket.
The Lady Cardinals had to take out two district champions and the 2023 PIAA runner-up en route to Penn State.
First, they beat WPIAL runner-up Union (New Castle), 6-1, in the first round a year after the Scotties went to the PIAA title game finishing second to Tri-Valley. Then, in the second, round, DCC took down District 5 champion Meyersdale, 7-1, before beating District 2 champion Old Forge, who knocked off Tri-Valley in the quarterfinals, 2-1, in the semifinals.
Things don’t get any easier in the title game against WPIAL third-place finisher Carmichaels, who beat WPIAL champion Chartiers-Houston, 5-4, in walk-off fashion in the semifinals after losing a one-run game to the same time in the WPIAL semifinals.
The Might Mikes won their only other PIAA title game appearance in 1998 in Class 2A and they beat DCC, 7-0, in the opening round of last year’s PIAA tournament.
“I don’t think anyone is even looking at last year,” Heigel said. “If you harp on something as a coach it could get into someone’s head. I don’t want that getting to be the mindset. I haven’t talked about Carmichaels just like I haven’t talked about any opponent. It’s not about them, it’s about us. I know that is coach speak but our girls are buying into it. They (Carmichaels) look like a good team, but they are all good at this time of the year. All of our players remember last year. I don’t have to harp on that. We have a totally different team mindset this year.”
The one person Heigel will talk about the opponent with is sophomore pitcher Rylee Kulbatsky.
With all due respect to the other pitchers who have helped get the Lady Cardinals to the title game, Kulbatsky is a different breed.
Perhaps the best Class 1A pitcher in the state and on the shortlist for the best pitchers in the state period, Kulbatsky has been nearly unhittable this year, literally.
In 119 innings of work, she has given up just 47 hits (0.39) per inning. She has given up more than four hits once, and that was five hits while giving up two or fewer in nine outings that have lasted at least four innings.
On the year, she has 240 strikeouts while walking just 24 and giving up 11 earned runs for an ERA of 0.65.
“I think (everyone) realizes we have a pitcher that we didn’t have the last two times we were in the state champion game,” Heigel said. “She’s really good. We always know if we can scratch together a couple of runs we have a chance.”
DCC usually does more than scratch across a couple of runs.
The Lady Cardinals are averaging 9.5 runs per game, and while that number has understandably gone down in the playoffs to 4.4 runs per game, the offense is still potent, especially considering everyone one through nine, is a hard out.
“I have tried putting an emphasis on small ball,” Heigel said. “I make a big deal of that in practice. Going into the playoffs, one base can mean a run and one run can mean a win or a loss both offensively and defensively. You can’t give it up on defense and you have to get it on offense. Those are things we spend a lot of time on.”
It’s hard to pinpoint any one player in particular on offense considering seven of the DCC regulars are hitting .350 or better including five at .400 or better led by senior shortstop Kayley Risser (.471, 4 HRs, 4 3B, 6 2B, 32 RBIs).
Fellow seniors Lauren Davidson (.471), Jessy Frank (.437), Melia Mitskavich (.424), and Marina Hanes (.400) are also all at .400 or better with Mitskavich (27) and Davidson (22) also driving in at least 20 runs. Add in Lydia Morgan (.379), Kulbatsaky (.373), Lily Davidson (.320), and Lexi Berta (.317) and you have a lineup that hits .394 as a team.
Hanes’ addition to the lineup in early May – she had torn an ACL in basketball in late January but underwent cutting-edge surgery that allowed her to be back on the field with limited limitations by May – really added length to the lineup allowing Heigel to move Lauren Davidson into the No. 7 spot in the lineup after she led off all year.
“We really lengthened our lineup when we got Marina Hanes back and put her at the leadoff,” Heigel said. “When she was out, we were using Lauren Davidson in leadoff and it wasn’t ideal. But, we didn’t have a whole lot of options. Now, you drop her to the seventh spot and she is hitting like a leadoff batter putting the ball in play and not striking out. Getting Marina back in early May was a real key to our offense.”
The DCC bats will be challenged against Carmichael sophomore pitcher Bailey Barnyak.
Barnyak shut down the Lady Cardinals a year ago tossing a five-hit shutout while striking out nine.
This season, she is 18-2 with a 1.22 ERA. In 148 ⅔ IP she has struck out 233 while walking 54. That includes six outings of at least 15 strikeouts.
“I watched our game from last year,” Heigel said. “It was no help, frankly. They got seven runs in that third inning. We just laid an egg. We had three errors in that inning. It didn’t help me much looking at that. Melia (Mitkavich who started) didn’t get any help defensively. And Kulbatsky is a different pitcher than she was last year.”
On offense, Carmichaels has a strong top three of its order led by Carys McConnell who is hitting .519 with seven home runs, five triples, eight doubles, and 40 RBIs.
Kaitlyn Waggett is hitting .446 with four doubles, four triples, and 12 RBIs, and Ali Jacobs is hitting .360 with two home runs, two triples, four doubles, and 20 RBIs.
Barnyak also hits .281 with two triples and two doubles and 19 RBIs.
The rest of the Might Mikes’s offense is hitting .219 or below.
But Heigel isn’t buying into the stats.
“When you look at stats, you really have to look at their schedule,” Heigel said. “You have to look at who they play and things like that.”
