SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Down 0-2 in the WPBL’s best-of-five Championship Series and facing elimination, the San Francisco Firebells made a statement Saturday night in Springfield, Ill. The visiting team for the first time in this series, the Firebells scored two runs before they made the first out in the top of the first, sent eight batters to the plate in each of the first two innings, and led the Los Angeles Queens 7-0 before the Queens’ fifth-place hitter had made her first plate appearance of the night.
Those seven runs were more than enough for the Firebells to avoid a sweep and force Game 4 Sunday afternoon, and the relentlessness with which they scored them was a reminder of just how dangerous their lineup can be. San Francisco compiled 17 hits in this game. Eight of their nine hitters had multiple hits on the night. The lone exception, catcher Alexia Jorge, reached base three times (she was hit by a pitch twice and walked) and scored one of the team’s 10 runs.
Never a team to take things lightly, the Firebells entered this game with a level of intensity that matched their precarious position in the series. Collectively, one of the Firebells’ few shortcomings is their team speed, but a San Francisco baserunner scored from second base on a single five times in the first two innings, with captain Kelsie Whitmore and right fielder Skylar Kaplan each doing so twice. One needed only to see the look of determination on Whitmore’s face as she rounded third on one of those occasions to know that San Francisco was not going to go easily in this series.
Not that either of the first two games were particularly easy for the Queens, despite their winning both. Los Angeles played from behind in Game 1, not taking a lead until the top of the sixth and winning by just one run. In Game 2, they were outscored 7-1 across six of the seven innings, but they scored 10 in the one inning when they sustained a rally.
In Game 3, the Queens had plenty of opportunity, but they stranded 11 baserunners in a game they lost by five runs. After the game, Maggie Foxx told reporters they “left a small village on board.”
Firebells lefties Niki Eckert and Liz Gilder combined to pitch all seven innings, and both struggled to throw strikes. Just 56% of Eckert’s 72 pitches over her four innings of work were strikes, while just 54% of Gilder’s 67 pitches over the final three frames were strikes. Despite that, the Queens drew just two walks against Eckert. They did draw five walks against Gilder in just three innings, but only two of those free passes came around to score as LA left the bases loaded in both the fifth and sixth innings.
After the game, I asked Queens shortstop Caitlin Eynon (who went 1-for-3 with an RBI single in the fifth and a walk in the sixth, though she was stranded on base on the latter occasion) if she thought the Queens, who succeeded with an aggressive approach against Kelsie Whitmore in Game 1, were too aggressive early in this game and if they adjusted their approach in the later innings.
“Yeah, potentially,” she replied. “I think also we faced a lot more off-speed today than we normally do, especially on someone like Kelsie, who throws predominantly fastballs and tries to beat you with the velo. So, I think maybe we didn’t make the adjustment quite enough to how much off-speed we were seeing, balls off the plate, and trying to go the other way with it. … I know myself, I tried to pull a couple of outside pitches.”
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Alternatively, you could credit both Eckert and Gilder with bearing down with runners in scoring position. In the bottom of the first, Queens second baseman Ayuri Shimano led off with a walk, stole second, and got to third with one out, but Eckert struck out catcher Jamie Mackay and got Eynon to fly out to right to strand Shimano. In the bottom of the second, the Queens put runners on the corners with two outs, but Eckert struck out center fielder Mo’ne Davis to strand both.
In the bottom of the fifth, the top of the Queens’ order greeted Gilder by scoring three quick runs, but after LA loaded the bases with two outs, Gilder got Diana Ibarra, who entered the game for Davis in the top of that inning, to hit a soft pop-up back to the mound. The Queens loaded the bases with two outs again in the next inning, but Gilder struck out left-fielder Maggie Foxx to keep Los Angeles scoreless in that frame. Eckert and Gilder combined to strike out five batters in this game; three of those came with runners in scoring position, when a strikeout all but ensures the runners can’t advance.
Meanwhile, Queens starter Michelle Roche just couldn’t stop the bleeding in the first two innings. The Firebells led off the game with three straight hits: a double by second baseman Amanda Gianelloni and singles by center fielder Whitmore and right fielder Kaplan. Each of those three reached second base (Whitmore on the throw home that was too late to catch Gianelloni scoring on Whitmore’s single, and Kaplan when Roche hit Jorge with a pitch) then scored from second on a single (Gianelloni on Whitmore’s, Whitmore on Kaplan’s, and Kaplan on a two-out single by designated hitter Sam Gutierrez).
In the second, the Firebells opened the inning with six straight hits. First, shortstop Joely Leguizamon hit her first home run, then Gianelloni, Whitmore, Kaplan, first baseman Andréanne Leblanc, and third baseman Jill Albayati all singled. Leblanc’s hit drove in Gianelloni and Whitmore, and Albayati’s drove in Kaplan, both scoring from second base.
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The Queens got two back in the top of the third when Shimano drew the second of three walks on the night, and Mackay hit her first home run since Aug. 23. But the Firebells got those two back when left fielder Isabella Villarreal replaced Roche on the mound in the fourth. That happened when Queens center fielder Mo’ne Davis lost a fly ball in the lights that would have been the third out. With two outs, the runners on second and third were off on contact, and left fielder Jua Park’s fly had enough hang time to give Albayati time to come all the way home from second base despite her sore hamstring.
That dropped fly tainted an otherwise outstanding outing from Villarreal, who doubled her season total of innings pitched to finish the game and save the Queens’ pitching staff for the battle ahead. The 19-year-old Villarreal, who has been slowed by a hamstring injury of her own this season, entered this game having thrown just four innings across three pitching appearances in the regular season and postseason combined. In this game, she was that dropped fly ball away from working a scoreless fourth. She worked around a pair of two-out singles in the fifth, escaped a bases-loaded, no-outs jam with just one run scoring in the sixth, and stranded a leadoff walk in the seventh.
As a result, both teams used just two pitchers in this game. That, combined with Friday’s off-day, should put both in relatively good shape for Sunday afternoon’s Game 4 and a potential winner-take-all Game 5 on Tuesday.
Firebells manager Matt Williams indicated to reporters after Saturday’s game that Whitmore will return on three days’ rest Sunday after throwing just 51 pitches in Game 1, and that Albayati would be his Game 5 starter on four days’ rest on Tuesday night. With Eckert and Gilder likely unavailable, San Francisco’s Game 4 bullpen will likely consist of Peyton Coria, Ela Day-Bédard, and Leblanc. Eckert and Gilder could then be available in relief on two days’ rest in what would surely be an all-hands-on-deck Game 5.
Queens manager Eric Young once again dodged the question about his pitching plans. It seems likely that Ayuri Shimano, who has yet to pitch in this series, will be their intended bulk-innings pitcher in Game 4. If the Queens have a lead in the middle innings, Young may attempt to clinch the championship with two or even three innings from closer Meggie Meidlinger, who has pitched just once in the last seven days, in Friday’s Game 2, when she threw just 10 pitches. Beyond that, Amira Hondras and Jamie Mackay will be on three days’ rest today after throwing 37 and 72 pitches, respectively, in Game 1. Ayami Sato, who threw 98 pitches in Game 2, would likely be held back for a potential Game 5, but, again, if Young thinks he can close things out today, he’ll likely be aggressive with his pitcher usage.
Game 4 is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 20.
Notes:
San Francisco’s Game 3 starter Niki Eckert said that while she did get permission from her job to be in Springfield, Ill., for the entire Championship Series, she didn’t get the series “off.” “I got approved for remote work,” she told reporters. “So, I was able to be here and not have to be in-person at work, but, unfortunately, I was still on the clock during the morning.” Eckert, who is from New Jersey, works for the New York City Department of Education.
Firebells shortstop Joely Leguizamon told reporters that her father, who was in attendance at Robin Roberts Stadium Saturday night, promised her $200 if she hit an over-the-fence home run. That has been a long-standing offer, as Saturday night’s round-tripper was the first over-the-fence home run Leguizamon has ever hit at any level. That makes this already great photo, by Elly Maier, of Leguizamon rounding the bases with the black eye she got in Game 1 even better:
