SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS: Friday was NoCal and SoCal’s last hurrah of the season. And it was all that it was hyped up to be.
The Firebells looked to launch another winning streak, while the Queens were carrying the momentum from their offensive assault over Boston. Kelsie Whitmore had her eye on the league-leading home run pie, while Jamie MacKay was hoping to have another Player of the Game day.
Michelle Roche toed the rubber for LA, and San Francisco’s Kelsie Whitmore gave another dose of two-way play.
The runs started piling up in the top of the second after the first three Firebells reached base. With two away, Alexia Jorge jacked a base hit up the middle, Skylar Kaplan took first on an infield error, Joely Leguizamon, crouched at the plate, old school without batting gloves, RBI singled to left-center, Jordan Eyster drove in a run on her double to right-center and Amanda Gianenolli sac flied in the third run.
In the bottom half, Ayuri Shimano, in her WPBL debut, drew a one-out walk and came home on Caitlin Eynon’s first long ball of the season. An opportunity to tie or take the lead with two on was on the table, but the Firebells’ strong defense handed the Queens an inning-ending double play instead.
Jorge, who does a fair amount of damage with two outs, turned on an inside pitch, launching a line drive out of the park for a two-run pad. In the bottom frame, Ashton Lansdell, powerful in pink, closed the gap by one off her first dinger of the season.
Shimano led off the fourth with another walk, and whoever said you can’t go home again wasn’t right on this one – when Mo’ne Davis’ RBI double clearly brought her there – making it a 4-4 game.
Amanda Gianelloni led off the fifth, lacing a sharp grounder smothered by Samaria Benitez at short – who made a valiant effort to get Gianelloni out on a long throw from her knees. On the very next play, Amira Hondras showed great defense with a different result, going full-extension on Albayati’s shot to the hole – able to pivot and get the lead runner from Benitez’s same position.
Andréanne Leblanc reached first on a looped infield flare; Jorge belted a single to left, knocking Roche out of the box. With the bases juiced and Jamie Mackay now on the mound, Kaplan, 0-4 on the night, tapped an infield dribbler, where no one was, driving in the go-ahead fifth run. With the bases full, Mackay left them that way, striking out Leguizamon chasing a 1-2 pitch.
On the Queens’ next at-bat, Lansdell got a lead-off free pass and Shimano, when she wasn’t going home, sent somebody there – her captain – via an RBI stand-up double, knotting it up at 5.
SF’s Ayaka Yamamoto, in her first start, opened the 6th with a walk. After Gianelloni went down looking, Whitmore put the Firebells back on top with an RBI double to the right-center wall, one shy of Denae Benites’ eight-game hitting streak.
Peyton Coria relieved Whitmore in the bottom of the inning – immediately walking the first two batters she faced. Hondras got a go-ahead run on a fielder’s choice, and with the bases full of her friends, Mackay crushed a two-RBI double, giving the Queens a bit of a cushion heading into the seventh.
Meggie “The Magnificent” Meidlinger, something you’d see on a marquee if she were a magician, came in to close up shop, which she absolutely did, working her magic just like she’s done all season. Mackay got what we hoped she was hoping for – Player of the Game.
On Saturday, we’ll do it all over again, twice, with every team taking the field.