Glory's MySpace blog entry.

Game recap.

Tonight was another Friday night league game. Cheering on the Glory for me were Mary and hubby Bruce, plus Shannon and her dad.

From the recap and the MySpace blog entry, it looks like we picked up where we left off last weekend. In last Saturday's series finale against Venezuela, we blasted 3 home runs, and tonight we hit 4, including yet another from Jessica Moore. (I had a feeling we'd see her again after she hit 2 last Saturday.) Joining her in the home run derby were Stephanie Best, Nichole Thompon, and Oli Keohohou.

The Akron Racers also participated in the derby, scoring all 3 of their runs via two homers, both by Kristen Butler.

Sarah Pauly pitched the complete game for the Glory, giving up just 4 hits while striking out 10, and earning her 6th win of the season. The Racers also got a complete game from their pitcher, Radara McHugh, who came in to the game with a 1.60 ERA, but we obviously didn't let that number bother us. The win gives us sole possession of first place in the league.

Here's a first-hand account from Shannon:

The Glory defended the first inning successfully with three outs for the first three batters, two of which Pauly sent back to the bench stunned. For the Glory’s first at bat against the Akron Racers, Hughes made it safely to first base on a drop-third-strike after trying to chase an outside pitch. Keohohou brought her in with a home run to left field before the inning ended.

The Akron racers were still paralyzed against Pauly in the second inning, with three strike-outs in a row. The Glory had more success, scoring 5 runs off of 4 hits. Thompson led off the inning with a home run and shook up the pitcher. Two Glory batters were walked and two others singled before our favorite first basemen got up to the plate again. Keohohou wasn’t given another chance to swing, however, as she was intentionally walked to the tune of the chicken dance.

The Racers still couldn’t get any hits in the third inning. Poore struck out swinging, Johnson couldn’t beat the throw to first after her bunt, and the Glory’s short stop, Marnitz, easily took care of McCoy’s grounder. Up first for the Glory was Moore (designated player) who took Thompson’s advice and also hit a homer to start off the inning. After a short rain delay, when the sound guy played songs to fit the weather (e.g., As the Thunder Rolls, by Garth Brooks), Piper walked. But her teammates were unable to bring her home before the end of the inning.

The fourth inning continued much the same for the Racers. The first two batters sat back down quickly with a fly-out and strike-out. Third up was Wootson, who hit a beautiful line drive to the left field fence but Hughes threw her out when she tried to stretch it into a double. The Glory was unable to add to their 7 run lead in the fourth and left three runners stranded on the bases.

Akron put themselves on the scoreboard in the fifth inning with a home run by Butler. She was the only Racer to touch the bases, however, with a strike out and two ground-outs to finish their at bat. The Glory continued their new pattern of starting off the inning with a home run. Best came in to DH for Marnitz and smacked one over the fence. Barber followed with a deep fly to right center but McCoy made a diving catch for the first out. The next two batters also popped-up for outs.

In the sixth inning the Racers couldn’t get on base and were back in the field after three outs in a row. The Glory also had some bad luck and were unable to score. With 1 out and runners on 1st and 2nd, Akron’s third baseman Dickson turned a double play to finish the inning. The Racers tried to close the gap at the top of the 7th with a single by Wootson and another homer by Butler, but they were unable to score more than two runs before they tallied up three outs. The final score was Washington Glory 9, Akron Racers 3.