September 10, 2026 | Springfield, IL: Thursday night, the Los Angeles Queens and New York Heights took to the diamond for Game 1 of their best-of-three semifinal series. While 2,451 miles separate these two rival cities, they entered the Postseason a mere one seed apart. It’s safe to say they were as evenly matched as a set of identical twins.
On a rain-delayed day, it began with a pitcher’s duel between two righties – the Heights Emi Saiki and Michelle Roche on the rubber for the Queens.
Ashton Lansdell put LA on top with a solo homer in the top of the first – and it remained offensively quiet until Saiki surrendered a pair of runs in the top of the fourth. Samaria Benitez extended her hitting streak to 10 with a bases-loaded nine-pitch at-bat that produced a couple of RBI’s, fattening LA’s lead to 3-0. The clutch Queen was 2-4 with four runs batted in.
Lansdell and Jamie Mackay knocked Saiki off the mound in the top of the fifth, tacking on an additional run with back-to-back stand-up doubles.
Meanwhile, Roche was having herself a two-hit shutout heading into the fifth, relying on her quick pace and precision fastballs and breaking pitches. The British Columbian put a couple of NYers on base, but with two outs and runners on the corners, she got Kylee Lahners swinging on a 3-2 pitch.
The Queens, with a 6-1 lead, handed Roche’s cushion to Isabella Villarreal. But what would a WPBL game be without a bit of drama as LA neared the finish line?
Villarreal, who knows a thing or two about comeback theatrics, loaded the bases with a pair of walks and a pinch-hit base hit, prompting manager Eric Young to summon the ace up his sleeve, Meggie Meidlinger, to do what she does best, which she did, inducing a double play on a liner that landed in her glove and a fly out to shallow center.
LA added four runs in the top of the seventh with Meidlinger getting her first WPBL base hit in her second at-bat of the season. In the bottom of the frame, the Heights showed some fight, chipping away to get within seven, which is as close as they would get. Fasten your seat belts folks – it’s going to be a bumpy ride.