Game recap.

NPF website story. 

The real star of this game was Jessica Moore, for reasons that will become clear towards the end of this entry. But in addition to Pauly's excellent pitching, another story tonight was leaving runners on base. In an attempt to make a sorta pitcher's duel more interesting, allow me to harp on this for tonight.

We left so many runners on base this series, I don't have time to count them all. We added 11 more to the total tonight. We left the bases loaded not once, not even twice, but three times - exactly half the game. Fortunately Sarah Pauly pitched another outstanding game, so those 2 that we didn't leave on base were enough for the victory (just barely).

Whoops, my bad. We left the bases loaded just twice. The first inning doesn't really count, though it should. You'll see what I mean in a moment. 

With tonight's matchup between staff aces Sarah Pauly and Jessica Sallinger, another pitcher's duel was possible. And it kinda, was, sorta, at least in terms of runs on the scoreboard.

Pauly started off strong, with a 1-2-3 inning. Then we got on board early, when Nicole Barber reached on what was ruled an infield single and an error on SS Jaime Clark. Personally, I think an accurate throw would have had her, but the throw was so off-line that it was tough to really tell. She ended up at second when the throw got past Samantha Findlay at first. LaDonia Hughes sac-bunted Barber to third, and Oli brought her home with a single to left.

Oli ended up at third thanks to a walk to Courtney Bures and a single to center from Catalina Morris. (Bures did a great job baserunning on Morris's liner, as the fielder had a chance to make the catch, but when she didn't, Bures was close enough to beat the throw to second.) We had bases-loaded and two outs. But then Oli got picked off third, on a throw to the bag from catcher Rachel Folden. Oli hadn't really strayed that far, and I thought she'd get back in time. I guess she did to, because she didn't dive or slide. So technically, we didn't leave the bases loaded here like I originally wrote, though they were loaded when the final out of the inning was made. Still, we were up 1-0 after 1.

The second inning was another 1-2-3 from Pauly. This inning, we only left one runner on base. Cambria Miranda, batting with two outs, was hit by a pitch, possibly around the hand. She displayed no pain as she went to first, where she was stranded when Barber flew out to center.

The third was 1-2-great bunt-3 for Pauly. Laura Harms was the Bandit with the nice bunt, and the third out looked easy thanks to Hughes sprinting directly to a spot before turning and catching a hard-hit line drive.  For our half, we decided the best way to leave no runners stranded was to not have any runners reach base. Hughes, Oli, and Bures went down in order. Still up 1-0 after 3.

The 4th was different. Pauly struck out Mindy Cowles to start the inning, but the hot-hitting Rachel Folden sent a 3-2 pitch deep over the center field fence to tie the game. Jaime Clark fouled off several 2-strike pitches before going down swinging for out number two. Nicole Trimboli hit a foul popup between home and first that neither Callie Piper nor Oli could catch, though it looked like there might have been a communication issue there. She then reached base on a bouncer to Amber Jackson at SS that looked like it took a bad (high) hop. Although Jackson did react well enough for the ball to hit her in the glove, it bounced out and she was given an error on the play. Trimboli stole second, but it mattered not as Jackson made up for the "error" by making a nice grab on a line drive off the bat of Kristie Fox to end the inning. Tied in the middle of 4.

After taking a short break in the third, it was back to leaving runners for the Glory in the bottom of the 4th. Catalina Morris's second hit of the night started off the inning, a grounder through the 3-4 hole into right. Piper bunted her up to second, quite nicely I might add. Morris then took 3rd on a wild pitch, before Jackson drew a 3-2 walk. Next up was my UVa girl Sara Larquier (yes, she's still my UVa girl even when she's slumping at the plate) . She stepped out to get the signs from Coach Carie at 3rd, when Carie's starts flinging her arms in ways that are obviously not signs. It turns out that the Bandit coach had decided to come out for a visit. When that finished, Sara popped up the 1-0 pitch to 1B on what might have been a hit and run, as Jackson had to hustle back to first as the catch was being made.

Cambria Miranda made sure those of us in the home VIP section were paying attention, as her foul popup landed in row 2. (No others have landed there that I can remember, though we've had to duck as some liners came a little close.)  She worked the count to 3-2 before drawing a walk to load the bases. Barber's popup to pitcher stranded all 3 runners to end the inning, still tied at 1.

The fifth was another 1-2-3 inning for Pauly. After Hughes grounded out to third, Oli stepped to the plate. Bures and Oli had been batting 3-4 since day 1 of this 8-day homestand. But they were swapped in the order last night and again tonight, with Bures behind Oli. This was likely due to how many times Oli was getting walked, both intentionally and otherwise. This inning started with another Oli walk, but it was well-earned. Jessica Moore comes in to run for Oli. Bures then took over sole possession of the league lead in times being hit by a pitch, this one seemingly in the upper  arm/back/shoulder area. Again, no obvious pain as she takes first base, though this doesn't mean it didn't hurt.

This caused another visit by the Bandit coach, and a short chat with Sallinger, who then left the game. She was replaced by Jamie Southern as Jarrod played "Take This Job and Shove it." Southern came on in relief two nights ago, and shut us down (2 no-hit innings), earning her first save. So, I was a little worried, and even more worried when Morris went down swinging for out number two. But Callie Piper came through with a single just over third and into left field. Even if Oli had broken out her hidden speed, she probably would not have made it home from second on this hit, but Moore was able to. (I'll expand on this play in the end notes.) The throw home allowed Bures to take third and Piper to take second, where Jessica Dignon came in to run. The Bandits chose to walk Jackson and pitch to Larquier, who just got under a pitch and popped up to end the inning. The Glory left the bases loaded for the second straight inning, but we were now up 2-1 after 5.

Although the top of the 6th was another 1-2-3 inning for Pauly, it still had a little something unusual in it. With 2 outs, the catcher, Rachel Folden came to the plate. She worked the count to 3-2. The next pitch looked good, but the lefty-batting Folden took it, tossed the bat toward the dugout and started backing up towards first, trying to sell it as a walk. It didn't work, and strike three was called. But she knew it, and she nodded in agreement as she started forward toward her own dugout. Hey, it was worth a shot, I guess.

The bottom of the 6th saw three Glory ladies strike out, but that wouldn't by any fun by itself. So, with two outs, Hughes lined a single to left, then took 2nd and then 3rd on 2 wild pitches. This was during Oli's long at-bat, where she eventually drew her second walk of the game, and her league-leading 22nd of the year. Okay, now we had some runners on base, so it was okay to make the third out of the inning, which we did. A 1-run lead, to create yet another drama-filled 7th inning.

The Bandits had their 4-5-6 six batters up, starting off with Jaime Clark. Would she hit a HR for her 4th straight game? Pauly's 1-1 pitch was a called strike 2, and Clark did not seem too happy about it. This might have influenced her on the next pitch, when she swung through strike three, for a huge first out. Next up was Nicole Trimboli, who can also do some damage with one swing (especially at Westfield). But Pauly got her on a comebacker. Oli then ended the game with a nice catch of Fox's foul popup, right along the dugout fence. Whew.

Pauly pitched yet another outstanding game, giving up 1 run on 2 hits, zero walks, while striking out 6. She pads her league-leading win count, now at 8, against 1 loss. Jessica Sallinger took the loss, falling to 4-3.

End Notes: We were in our white shirts and blue pants. Chicago was back in their Halloween colors, orange shirt with black pants. Yet there was no passing out candy.

Our coaches pretty much matched (each other) tonight for a change, with red shirts and blue shorts. But Coach Carie is still wearing a Nationals cap, instead of a Glory cap. I have no idea why.

Just like last year, when Larquier is slumping at the plate, she doesn't let it affect her fielding. She continues to do a great job at the hot corner, and I'm not just saying this because she's my UVa girl. I heard a fan behind me tonight, after Clark's grounder in the 2nd, say that she's "like a vacuum cleaner over there." Direct quote.

Nichole Thompson joined Amber and LaDonia dancing between innings, getting closer and closer back to her old self for the song. And the crowd loved it - they all got a big ovation.

The between-inning race around the bases with Gloria and a young fan was too close to call for Jarrod tonight. The ump had to get involved, but Gloria remained winless. However, she's didn't like the call and let the ump know it. So the ump threw Gloria out of the game! Gloria channelled Billy Martin and Earl Weaver (how's that for going back a few decades) and kicked dirt on the plate, before calming down and making up with the ump.

Okay, now to the play of the night. Moore on second, tie game, bottom of the fifth, two outs. Callie Piper's single is just over third and into shallow left. Amanda Freed, also a pitcher, charges hard, expecting a play at the plate. Moore rounds third and heads home, seeing catcher Rachel Folden between her and the plate. Moore is a 5'7" outfielder, and some would say a thin person. Folden is a fairly typical catcher, in full gear. Let's just say that Moore was just a bit outweighed, and leave it at that. But that didn't stop Moore from running right into Folden.

Although the ball arrives just before Moore, Folden does not catch it, and the ball starts to roll away, but this all happens a split-second before the collision. After which, Moore ends up behind the plate, to the 1B dugout side, and Folden has been turned around. She's now basically sitting on the plate, without the ball. Moore realizes that she never touched home, so she tries to find some part of it to touch. She might have needed to move Folden off of it to do so. Folden might have been unaware of this, as she didn't try to find the ball and tag Moore. (The ball was behind Folden at this point, having rolled slightly toward the infield.) Folden then becomes upset at Moore trying to tag home, and starts kinds slapping at Moore. She finally touches the plate, at which point the umpire rules safe, having made no sign to this point.

Moore was not backing down from what could have been a brawl, but Coach Erin ran down from 1B and got between them, pushing Moore away and toward the dugout.

There are some who thought that the call should have been safe much earlier in the play, as Folden was blocking the plate without the ball. Although this is legal in Major League Baseball, it is apparently not legal in the NPF. ASA made it illegal just within the last 2 or 3 years, I think. I believe that this call was not made because the ball beat Moore to the plate (a nice throw from Freed, by the way), and the umpire did not have the proper angle to see that it was not caught before Moore collided with Folden.

With all due respect to Sarah Pauly for her fantastic pitching tonight, the hero of the game is Jessica Moore. She has not been getting much playing time lately, used almost solely as a pinch runner. But when the time came, she did what needed to be done, and gave up her body for the good of the team. As a coach, this is the kind of player we dream of. I am just so impressed with Moore after tonight, I can't even find the words. Great job, Jessica!