September 5, 2026 | Springfield, IL: All the seeds in the playoff picture have been set. In LA’s last game of the regular season, they got the spark they were seeking – to leave on a high note – proving sometimes you don’t have to be careful about what you wish for.
The Queens used an arsenal of ‘cooks’ on the diamond. Ace Ayami Sato prepped the kitchen, Michelle Roche served up an appetizer, Ayuri Shimano delivered the main dish, and closer Meggie Meidlinger shut it down for dessert.
In a momentum-building night to catapult one team into the Postseason, Boston made a costly error right off the bat – figuratively – which opened up the floodgates for eight LA runs.
Starting pitcher Alli Schroder, the captain of the Hunters, could not right the ship for the one inning she spent on the hill. Fielding miscues, which have been the bane of Boston all season, along with three walks and just some damn good timely hitting, prompted a call to the bullpen, which in this world of two-way players, is where reliever Paloma Benach actually entered the field from.
Lexi Hastings – moved up to the leadoff spot, laced a solo shot out of the park in the bottom of the first – her third – to cut the deficit to seven, a lead that isn’t always insurmountable to overcome in this league.
The Hunters tacked on another run in the bottom of the third thanks to a free pass, a ground out that put Hastings on second, and a bobbled infield ball off Molly Paddison’s bat that sent the speedy center fielder sliding home.
LA put another on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth. In the bottom frame, Boston, on the WPBL’s Prom theme night, got graduation gifts galore: four walks, a wild pitch, and a shot that dropped in between a combination of LA infielders and outfielders – producing four unearned runs – which they earned by being patient at the plate.
Boston got within three, then in the top of the sixth, Ashton Lansdell changed that to four with a leadoff double, her second stolen base, putting her on third, and a wild throw on Jamie Mackay’s seemingly “routine out” at first, that wasn’t, sending Lansdell home. The hot corner Queen had a 3-4, two-RBI day for another Player of the Game nod.
And in that same inning, with two runners on, Isabella Villarreal sent a line drive to center into the glove of Hastings, who gunned down Mackay at third for an inning-ending double play, and that, my friends, was the Play of the Game.