The San Francisco Firebells snapped a two-game skid on Saturday afternoon by scoring more runs in their first two innings against the Boston Hunters than they had in the entirety of either of their two previous games, losses to the Los Angeles Queens and the New York Heights. San Francisco added four runs in the sixth to beat Boston 12-5, slipping past Los Angeles in the standings and back into first place in the WPBL.
Firebells center fielder Kelsie Whitmore started things off with an opposite-field solo home run, with one out in the top of the first off Boston starter Paloma Benach. That shot, Whitmore’s eighth of the season, put the Firebells captain back in a tie with Heights catcher Denae Benites in the league’s thrilling home run race. A walk and a pair of singles plated another run for San Francisco, but the Hunters answered with two runs of their own, without the benefit of a hit, in the bottom of the inning.
Making her first start of the year for the Firebells, weekend warrior Niki Eckert walked the first two batters she faced. A throwing error by second baseman Amanda Gianelloni then loaded the bases. Boston plated two of those runners: one on a fielder’s choice and, after Eckert plunked Boston second baseman Edith De Leija, one on a two-out, bases-loaded walk to center fielder Lexi Hastings.
Then came the top of the second. Again, the Firebells started things off with an opposite-field solo home run, this time a leadoff shot from backup catcher Sam Gutierrez, who got the day-game-after-night-game start for the second consecutive Saturday (she went 5-for-7 in those two games, suggesting she deserves more frequent opportunities). Bachar set down the next two San Francisco batters, but the third out proved elusive.
Whitmore singled. Bachar walked Firebells shortstop Joely Leguizamon. First baseman Andréanne Leblanc drove in Whitmore with a single into the left-field gap that tipped off Boston left fielder Ticara Geldenhuis’s glove. Regular catcher Alexia Jorge, starting at designated hitter (DH), singled home Leguizamon. Right fielder Skylar Kaplan hit a slow roller to third that re-loaded the bases. Third baseman Jua Park singled home Leblanc and Jorge. That brought things back around to Gutierrez, who singled home Kaplan, but was thrown out trying to stretch her hit into a double to mercifully end the inning.
That all added up to six second-inning runs, putting the Firebells’ up 8-2 after an inning and a half.
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From there, Eckert settled down, working around a Denver Bryant single in the second and stranding a pair of runners in the third. Bryant, the Hunters’ DH, singled again in the fourth and went to third on a wild pick-off throw from Eckert. Eckert rallied to strikeout shortstop Raine Padgham, but after the Firebells’ lefty walked left-handed-hitting right fielder Molly Paddison with her 82nd pitch to put runners on the corners, San Francisco manager Matt Williams called righty Ela Day-Bédard in from left field to retire righty cleanup hitter Geldenhuis, which she did, stranding both runners.
With workhorse righty Gigi Schiano taking over for Bachar in the third, the two teams exchanged zeroes until the Hunters broke through against Day-Bédard in the bottom of the fifth. The Québécois righty walked the first two batters in that inning, De Leija and third baseman Kate Blunt. De Leija then stole third. Back behind the plate via the defensive shuffling that accompanied Day-Bédard’s move to the mound (third baseman Park went to left, catcher Gutierrez went to third, and Jorge moved from DH to catcher), Alexia Jorge threw behind De Leija to second base to prevent the double steal. However, with second baseman Gianelloni racing over to cover, Jorge’s throw was too far to the shortstop side of the bag and got past Gianelloni, allowing Blunt to advance and De Leija to bounce up out of her slide and score.
Speedy center fielder Lexi Hastings then doubled home Blunt. After first baseman Maïka Dumais singled to put runners on the corners, catcher Beth Greenwood singled Hastings home to bring the Hunters within three runs at 8-5.
Day-Bédard managed to stop the Hunters there via a strikeout and soft flair to second base, but after she walked Paddison to load the bases, Williams called on lefty Liz Gilder to face Geldenhuis, who hit into fielder’s choice at third base to end the rally.
No sooner had the Hunters made it a ballgame than Schiano ran into trouble in the sixth, loading the bases with one out on a a pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch. At that point, Schiano was in her fourth inning of work (retaking the league lead in innings pitched), the next batter represented the start of her third time through the Firebells’ order, and there were just 1 2/3 innings remaining in regulation. Yet, assistant coach Karavin Dew, managing in place of Jemile Weeks — who was serving an automatic one-game suspension in the wake of his ejection in the Hunters’ previous game — stuck with Schiano.
The Pennsylvanian righty got Day-Bédard to pop out to short, but Gianelloni followed with a two-run infield single and moved to second on a throwing error by shortstop Padgham. Dew stuck with Schiano. Another run scored when catcher Hyenah Kim failed to glove a Schiano curve ball (the play was erroneously ruled a wild pitch but should have been a passed ball). Whitmore then singled home Gianelloni. Dew stuck with Schiano. Leguizamon doubled, pushing Whitmore to third. Dew stuck with Schiano.
Finally, Schiano got Leblanc to ground out to end the rally, but by then the Firebells had clawed back every run the Hunters had scored in the previous half inning plus one, building their lead to seven runs.
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Asked why she stuck with Schiano throughout that inning, Dew told The IX Sports, “I think Gigi was handling her business. I think we, defensively, didn’t make the plays that we probably needed to make behind her. So, at that point, there was no reason to feel like Gigi couldn’t handle the inning.”
It’s true that, in the official box score, none of the four runs Schiano allowed in that inning were earned, but given how deep she was into her outing (her last pitch of the inning was her 73rd of the game), the fact that she faced five hitters for the third time that inning (those five went 3-for-5 against her), and that the Hunters had only just climbed back into the game and had just six more outs to work with at the plate, I’d argue there were plenty of reasons to want a fresh arm in the game after Schiano loaded the bases, if not before.
That inning capped the scoring, putting the game out of reach for the Hunters, who fell to 3-6 on the season. Boston will wrap up Week 4 of the WPBL season on Sunday by hosting the Los Angeles Queens at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Injury Updates
Jill Albayati, RHP/3B/OF, Firebells: Firebells manager Matt Williams announced Albayati as the starter for this game earlier in the week, but refused to name a starter Friday night, and when the game arrived, Albayati, who had started every previous Firebells game on the mound or in the field, was nowhere to be seen. It turns out, Albayati strained a hamstring in Friday night’s game and was on the inactive list for this one, along with fellow injured pitcher/outfielder Rosi del Castillo.
Williams’s recollection of when Albayati suffered the injury doesn’t add up, however. Williams said Albayati felt tightness playing the outfield on Friday and “immediately” came out of the game. But Albayati played third base in the Firebell’s final defensive inning on Friday.
Regardless, Williams told The IX Sports that Albayati, who has hit .387/.500/.645 and posted a 1.80 ERA on the season, “definitely [has] a strain” and “got some treatment.” The team will “see how the week progresses for her,” per Williams. The good news for the Bells is that they won on Saturday and now have five days off before taking the field against Boston again on Friday.
Rosi del Castillo, RHP/OF, Firebells: Williams told The IX Sports that del Castillo, who has been working her way back from a knee injury, threw on flat ground on Friday and threw a bullpen on Saturday. “She feels good,” Williams said. “We’ll get her some live batting practice midweek and see where she’s at, but that’s promising for us so far. When she gets ramped up, we’ll see how that feels on her knee.”
Beth Greenwood, C, Hunters: Greenwood left this game one batter after a pitch ricocheted off Jua Park’s rear end and into the left side of Greenwood’s catching mask. Dew told The IX Sports after the game, “I think she’ll be okay. Just a little tweak there … no real concern.”
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Notes
According to Jenna Becerra on the ESPN broadcast of the game, Hunters manager Jemile Weeks served a one-game suspension on Saturday due to a league policy mandating a one-game suspension following an ejection. However, the league did not issue any statement about the suspension nor about the policy, despite requests from the press.
Acting Boston manager Karavin Dew told The IX Sports that the Hunters learned about Weeks’s suspension prior to their practice on Friday, an off-day for the team. Asked if she had been aware of the policy prior to Friday, Dew said, “I’m not sure. I think you’d have to ask Jemile.”
We also learned a little more about why Firebells lefty Niki Eckert is only available to her team Friday through Sunday. Every week, the New Jersey native returns to New York City where she works in on the policy and data team of the city’s Department of Education. Eckert told reporters after the game that she works out during the week to stay in shape, throwing a bullpen with a coach on Tuesday or Wednesday to be ready to pitch for San Francisco on the weekend.
