SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS: The New York Heights and San Francisco Firebells were the latest teams to face a new opponent – two cities with a connection that runs deep in baseball lore.
It was a tale of two Canadian pitchers – Firebells Liz Gilder, the first lefty starter of the season, versus righthander Jaida Lee on the hill for New York. It was Lee who had the bigger night with five innings of no earned runs, four hits on 102 pitches. Yes, you read that right – 102.
Gilder only surrendered a pair of runs, but was pulled after two and two thirds, and in her absence the Heights went on a hitting spree, plowing through a series of relief pitchers that got the call from the infield, outfield and dugout. Both teams used their two way players, one of the most fascinating aspects of the WPBL. How many times have you seen a second baseman from the majors come to the mound and actually throw sliders and balls that break?
Denae Benites had another notable night – 4-5 with a solo and three run homer, five RBIs and a pair of stolen bases. This time around, she was player of the game, an honor that eluded her in the first game against the come-from-behind LA Queens.
Keira Izumi was 3-4, delivering her first dinger and along with her captain, Denae, took turns through their celebratory home run tunnel – an homage to the city that has two.
You have to give kudos to San Francisco, as they did not go quietly, and for a moment, it felt like they may break the hearts of the Heights with a comeback win of their own. With the score 13-3 in the bottom of the sixth, the Firebells fired off five runs until Izumi returned in the final frame to retire the side in order to secure NY’s first win of the season.