Returning serve after the Hunters defeated them for the first time this season on Sunday, the Los Angeles Queens staged a three-run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning to beat Boston 8-6 as the WPBL returned to action Wednesday night.
Well, rally might be overstating it a little. In a game in which neither team connected for an extra-base hit, the Hunters walked seven batters, plunked three, and uncorked two wild pitches to hand the Queens twelve free bases from courtesy of the Boston pitchers alone. Five of those free bases came in that crucial bottom of the sixth, an inning that Boston entered leading 6-5.
Early on in Wednesday’s game, that sort of wildness affected both teams, as starting pitchers Michelle Roche, for LA, and Gigi Schiano, for Boston, both battled their control early. Roche only walked two in the top of the first, but still gave up three runs on just two hits as the Hunters plated both of those walks, the first on a single by Ticara Geldenhuis, making her first start of the season in center field, then Geldenhuis herself scored when Queens second baseman Samaria Benítez failed to corral Boston shortstop Raine Padgham’s sinking liner.
Making just her second start of the season, in addition to five relief appearances, Hunters workhorse Gigi Schiano walked three and plunked two in the bottom of the first, driving in runs with both a walk and a hit batter as the Queens answered back with a four spot.
Roche continued to struggle in the top of the second, hitting a batter among a trio of singles, the last of which, by Hunters right fielder Molly Paddison, drove in two. After waking the next hitter to load the bases, however, Roche seemed to find her groove. She struck out Geldenhuis and Padgham and got left fielder Lexi Hastings to ground to second to end the threat. Roche then struck out Boston second baseman Edith De Leija to start the third. However, she was close to her pitch limit at that point. After Hunters first baseman Alli Schroder singled, Queens manager Eric Young went to his bullpen.
By that point, with one out in the top of the third, the lead had already changed hands twice, and the Hunters were up 5-4, but things calmed down in the middle innings. Schiano settled down in the second, pitching around a two-out single, and pitched into the fifth. Meanwhile, the Queens’ Thaima Maximiliana replaced Roche and retired the first seven batters she faced, holding the Hunters in place into the fifth.
Schiano walked just one batter in the second, third, and fourth innings, combined. But that one came around to score and tie the game in the bottom of the third. That happened on a two-out RBI by Benítez, who made her first start as LA’s leadoff hitter and went 3-for-4 with that RBI and two runs scored.
The Hunters got that run back in the top of the fifth, however, when, with two outs, De Leija singled off Maximiliana, stole second, and scored on Schroder’s third single of the game (she was 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored on the night).
Even before the Hunters reclaimed the lead at 6-5, Schiano implored Hunters manager Jemile Weeks to send her back out for the fifth. Weeks, convinced by his pitcher and her teammates, obliged. Schiano got the first out of the fifth inning on one pitch, but then walked Queens catcher Maggie Foxx (who took ball four in all four of her trips to the plate in this game, though she scored just once) and gave up a single to left fielder Isabella Villarreal. With Schiano at 88 pitches, Weeks pulled Schiano and handed the ball to lefty reliever Olivia Bricker, who got pinch-hitter Mo’ne Davis to hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat.
Villarreal, who opened the season nursing a hamstring injury, then made her season debut on mound and also stranded a walk and a single via a double play, setting up the top of the Queens’ order in the bottom of the sixth.
Benítez led off the bottom of the sixth with her third single of the game. Next up, Ashton Lansdell thought she struck out on a check swing only to receive a reprieve from home plate umpire Joelyn Pullano and work a walk. With the tying run in scoring position, Weeks brough captain Schroder in from first base to pitch, only for Schroder to hit Queens slugger Jamie Mackay in the thigh with her first pitch to load the bases and put the go-ahead run in scoring position, as well.
Schroder had an eventful game. Starting at first base, the Hunters captain was in the starting lineup as a hitter for the first time since Weeks took over as manager on Aug. 9. But before her first at-bat arrived in the second inning, she got the worst of a collision at first base with Queens third baseman Caitlin Eynon. Eynon had grounded to short and Boston shortstop Raine Padgham’s throw was low. Rather than step forward to scoop it, Schroder stepped back to play the short hop and wound up right in Eynon’s path just as Eynon ran through the bag. With her head down to field the ball, Schroder went face-first into Eynon’s chest and both players ended up on the ground.
It took Schroder a little while to shake that one off, but she got her first hit of the season in her next at-bat, and went 3-for-3 on the night with a run scored and the RBI that gave the Hunters the lead in the top of the fifth. Now, the Canadian righty was being charged with protecting that slim, one-run lead with the bases loaded, no outs.
She nearly did it, striking out the first two batters she faced looking at mid-70s fastballs on the left-side corner of the plate. However, before she did that, she threw the 0-2 pitch to Ayuri Shimano behind the Queens’ shortstop and past the Boston catcher, allowing Benítez to score the tying run.
After going full on Shimano, Schroder struck her out looking at a 73 mile per hour fastball on the inside corner. Then Schroder got her revenge on Eynon, getting her to watch strike three go by on the same corner (away in this case) at 75 mph.
Still able to send the game to the seventh inning tied, Schroder then got ahead of Queens first baseman Sarah Edwards 0-2, but rather than try to spot another fastball, she threw Edwards a breaking ball that Edwards dropped just in front of charging right fielder Molly Paddison to give the Queens the lead.
Schroder would unleash another wild pitch, plating Mackay, the batter she hit, and issue Foxx her fourth walk before striking out Villarreal to end the inning with the Hunters down 8-6. Queens closer Meggie Meidlinger, back on the beam after her uncharacteristic loss to the Heights on Saturday, worked a perfect seventh inning to lock down the win for LA.
With that, the Queens improved to 6-5, and the Hunters fell to 4-7. LA is right back at it tonight against the Heights, the first of two matchups between those two teams this week, with the Queens looking to avenge Saturday’s loss to New York. Boston will return to action on Friday against the Firebells, the one team the Hunters have yet to defeat.
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Injury News:
Hunters catcher Beth Greenwood has still not played since a pitch ricocheted off her mask and she came out of the game last Saturday. Boston manager Jemile Weeks told The IX Sports that Greenwood “doesn’t have anything going on with getting hit in the side of the mask,” but she does have “a little thumb situation” from catching. Indeed, Greenwood was seen in the dugout with a green wrap on her left hand. Despite that, she was listed among the Hunters’ available players in this game.
Notes:
- With just two weeks left in the regular season, Queens manager Eric Young addressed his team before this game to let them know they needed to step up their game. (Or, as 19-year-old Isabella Viallarreal told ESPN’s AJ Andrews, “Giiiirl, he was giving us a biiiig speech before the game.” Calling it “very inspirational, funny, and very serious at the same time.”) Young told reporters after the game that his speech was primarily focused on the “mental aspect” of the game. “I just want the team to really focus and concentrate a little bit more,” said Young, who added that his team needs to “lock in” and avoid mistakes.
- In the fifth inning, Hunters third baseman Denver Bryant made an excellent play ranging toward the stands and dugout to catch a foul pop by Isabella Villarreal. However, the ball was ruled out of play because it came down over a box drawn on the ground in chalk near the first-base dugout. Villarreal’s at-bat continued, and she wound up singling to drive Schiano from the game.
- The WPBL schedule is flush with theme nights and giveaways at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Ill – including Pride night next Thursday, which will surely be a blast for those in attendance.
Every Wednesday this season has been Educators’ Night at the stadium, with the WPBL honoring a teacher in attendance, as well as teachers in general. As the son of a teacher and as a father who has always been very involved at his kid’s school, I applaud the WPBL for making a point of honoring educators every week. They deserve it.
