SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Despite leading in both games, the top-seeded San Francisco Firebells now find themselves trailing 2-0 and on the edge of elimination in the inaugural Women’s Pro Baseball League Championship Series.
“Backs against the wall,” manager Matt Williams said in his opening statement to reporters after Thursday’s 11-7 loss to the Los Angeles Queens. “We know what we have to do. It’s right in front of us.”
In Game 1, San Francisco fell behind early by a run but roared back with a grand slam by Amanda Gianelloni. The Firebells scored two more runs in the game and held the lead going into the top of the sixth inning before giving up the go-ahead run on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly.
They also lost pitcher Rosi del Castillo, who dislocated her patella taking an awkward step toward a grounder after facing just two batters.
Then, in Game 2, the Firebells responded to a first-inning home run and scored four unanswered runs before a disastrous turn in the fourth. The Queens drew two walks, capitalized on a few infield throwing errors and hit a grand slam. Their 10 runs in the inning set a league record.
San Francisco used two pitchers in the frame and finally escaped after an interference call at home plate. They didn’t allow any more runs, but the damage was done.
“They came up with some really clutch hits tonight, and if you can do that, you have a really good chance to win,” Williams said. “We look forward to doing that next game.”
The Firebells actually out-hit the Queens 13-11 and had two players go 4-for-4: Andréanne Leblanc and Samantha Gutierrez. Those two also accounted for three RBIs each. In the series, the team is batting .342.
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Throughout the playoffs, they have outscored opponents 18-8 in the first three innings. By the end of the game, however, the scores are even at 28-28.
The good news for the Firebells is that they were able to rest a few key pitchers, leaving left-handers Niki Eckert and Liz Gilder “fully ready,” according to Williams.
And, as Williams pointed out, the team did win the season series against the Queens 3-2. The Queens won the first game 12-3, then the Firebells took the next three 10-3, 8-2, and 17-3. Los Angeles closed the series with an 8-6 win.
“I believe in the group that we have,” Leblanc said. “The past two games don’t define who we are as a team. … We’re going to do whatever we have to do to give us a chance to win this, and I think we have the team to do it.”
In addition to her impressive performance at the plate, Leblanc worked around two walks and pitched a scoreless inning. San Francisco captain Kelsie Whitmore came up with the inning-ending catch in center field with the bases loaded.
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The outfield really showed off in the fifth inning, accounting for all three outs between Whitmore, Jua Park in left and Skylar Kaplan in right. Whitmore led all players with seven putouts.
“Obviously, Kels covers a lot of ground in center field, but even in the corners, Sky and Jua like to cover the whole outfield,” Leblanc said. “It’s either a catch or a play is going to be made.”
Both teams took Friday off for rest, but the series continues Saturday night with a must-win game for the Firebells. If they can force Game 4, it will be played on Sunday, and then a potential Game 5 would follow on Tuesday.
“This season, the first game we played against the Queens, they beat us, and then we beat them three in a row, so it’s doable,” Williams said. “We just got to believe that it is and come ready to play.”
