Perfection Reigns as California Defeats Carmichaels For Class A Baseball Crown

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, May 29, 2014 | 7:48 PM

It took nearly 46 hours to complete, but in the end it was perfection that prevailed. California (20-0) became the sixth team in WPIAL history to win a WPIAL Championship and finish league play undefeated, running away with a 6-1 win over section rival Carmichaels (14-3) on Thursday at Consol Energy Park.

The game, which was delayed on Tuesday night in the fourth inning after severe weather hit the Washington, PA area an again delayed Wednesday by more storms, was resumed at a 1-1 tie on Thursday afternoon.

The delay, which was met with controversy, forced Carmichaels Pitcher Brandon Lawless to discontinue pitching, as PIAA rules state that after pitching into a fourth inning, a pitcher must have two days of rest before pitching again. Lawless, who entered the WPIAL Championship with a 1.96 ERA, pitched into the top of the fourth inning on Tuesday night. His counterpart, California’s Josh Luko, did not pitch in the fourth inning and, therefore, was allowed to pitch Thursday.

When action resumed, Carmichaels elected to throw Sophomore Billy Bowlen. After inheriting two runners from Lawless, Bowlen would allow three straight singles, including an RBI single by Jake Columbus and a two-RBI knock by Louden Conte, giving California a 4-1 lead. Conte, who had an RBI triple in the third inning which tied the game at 1-1, finished 2-for-3 with three RBI.

California would get insurance runs for Luko in the sixth inning on a two-RBI double by Ron Baron, extending the Trojans’ lead to 6-1.

But two runs were all that Luko needed. The Senior Pitcher would hurl a complete game, giving up one unearned runs on seven hits, while striking out nine batters and walking none.

“It’s exciting,” said Luko. “There aren’t any words that can describe this feeling. I just tried to focus on my mechanics and hit my spots and let my defense do the rest.”

Lawless would get tagged with a tough luck loss, giving up three earned runs on three hits, while striking out two batters and walking four. Offensively, Carmichaels was led by Ryan Zalar’s two singles and run scored, while Michael Blasinsky had an RBI infield single in the first inning.

The Championship is the fourth for California in school history and first since 2006. The Trojans advance to the PIAA Playoffs as the top seed from District 7 and will meet District 9 runner up Cranberry in the First Round on Monday at a site and time to be determined.

All three of Carmichaels’ losses this season were to California, as the Trojans defeated the Mighty Mikes 14-0, 6-5 and 6-1 in three meetings. Carmichaels will represent District 7 as the second seed from the WPIAL and meet District 5 Champion Southern Fulton.

Carmichaels: 1-0-0-0-0-0-0=1-7-0

California:      0-0-1-3-0-2-0=6-9-2