Pauly vs Burkhart. These two battled 4 times during the regular season, with Burkhart winning 3 of them. But this is the one that really matters.

The offense continued where they left off last night, and they got to Burkhart early today. Although Nicole Barber and LaDonia Hughes both failed to reach base, Amber Jackson drew a walk, and both Oli and Sara Larquier made it hurt. Oli doubled to center to score Jackson, then Larquier homered to LC to score two more. (We've been told that he fences in Kimberly are 220, so this was definitely not a Westfield HR.) Bures popped up to SS to end the inning, but we had another first inning lead, up 3-0, with Philly still to bat.

Pauly had some control problems in the first, but was able to work through them. Clare Burnum, who has hit us very well this year, grounded out on a comebacker, and Sharonda McDonald singled. Kellie Wilkerson worked the count to 3 balls before grounding out to 3B, with McDonald advancing to scoring position. Chelsea Spencer walked, but Pauly got Savannah Long on strike to end the inning. Glory up 3-0 after 1.

I was hoping that we would pile on and be able to coast through this game and be fresh(er) for the next one, but it was not to be. Jessica Dignon popped out to SS, and Callie Piper grounded out to 3B. Jessica Moore struck out to end the inning.

Pauly seemed to getting her control problems under control, if you will, in the second inning. She got two quick groundouts to second before Kristen Miller singled to right and advanced to second on a passed ball.

Pauly looked like she'd have a quick inning in the second, as she got the first two batters on groundouts to Bures. But Kristen Miller singled to right, then advanced to second on a passed ball. Racquel Spencer came in to run for Miller at second, and the number nine batter Emily Friedman singled her home. Friedman took second on the throw home, which proved key when Glory nemesis Burnum singled Friedman home to make it a one run game. Burnum then got into scoring position herself when Pauly walked McDonald, bringing up Wilkerson. Pauly ended the inning by getting Wilkerson on a comebacker. We were still winning, but barely: 3-2 after 2 innings.

When we're going good, we usually answer the opponent scoring in our very next at-bat. Toward that end, Nicole Barber lead off the inning, worked the count full, then singled to right. Hughes sac-bunted Barber into scoring position. Jackson moved the runner up as well, with a fly ball to right, but we were out of outs to use for advancement. It would take a hit, or maybe a wild pitch/passed ball in order to score Barber. Oli took some pitches in case Burkhart wanted to help out, but she didn't, and Oli grounded out to SS to end the threat.

Pauly would need another scoreless inning to keep the Glory on top, and she would face the 4, 5, and 6 hitters in doing so. She got Spencer behind in the count, then got her to fly out to center. Long then grounded out to 3B for the second out. Jenna Hall prolonged the inning with a single to center, but Trena Peel grounded out to 1B to keep the Glory on top, still 3-2 after 3.

Another scoreless inning for the Glory in the 4th: Larquier flew out, Bures grounded out, and Dignon popped out. So at least there was some variety.

Pauly had a nice 1-2-3 4th as well: Miller struck out, Friedman grounded out to 2B, and Burnum grounded out to Pauly. Still up 3-2 at the end of 4 complete.

Callie Piper got things going in the 5th by drawing a walk. Cambria Miranda went in to run, and perhaps steal. Instead, Moore sac-bunted her into scoring position for the top of the order. Unfortunately Barber popped up to 2B, and Hughes grounded out to the same location, and the leadoff walk was wasted.

For the bottom of the 5th, Game Tracker ran through the first three batters so quickly I couldn't keep up. (I can only assume that the plays took a little longer up north.) McDonald hit a comebacker to Pauly for the first out, but Wilkerson singled to LC before Spencer flew out to RF for out number two. Savannah Long has occasionally hurt us in these types of situations this year, but she lined out to 3B to end the inning. (And according to Game Tracker, Larquier had to jump quite high to catch the line drive!) Still 3-2 Glory after 5.

Amber Jackson lead off the 6th for the Glory, and she worked the count full before singling to right. Oli moved Jackson to second with a fly ball out to left field (these 220 foot fences certainly change the game). Larquier popped out to first for the second out, and it was up to Bures. But her fly ball was also caught, and another opportunity was wasted.

The Force got their leadoff batter on base in the 6th, as Hanna Hall singled to left. Stacy Birk ran for her, and went to second on the sav-bunt from Peel. Miller struck out for the second out. Friedman singled, but Birk stopped at third. Burnum, another Glory-killer, quickly got behind in the count, 0-2, and then fouled out to LF for the final out. A 1-run game meant another drama-filled seventh.

It would be nice if we had more than just one run to play with, since the Force had 2-3-4 coming up. Batting for the Glory was Dignon, who had a good game yesterday, but was 0-2 today. She then went 0-3 with a foul out to 1B. But Callie Piper walked for the second time, and Moore singled to center. We had already run for Piper, so doing so again would mean her exit, but I still thought we might see Balko go on, giving us a chance to score on a single. It didn't happen, and it didn't matter, as Barber grounded into a rally-killing double play. It was going to be up to Pauly to make our razor-thin lead hold up.

The Force had the heart of the order coming up in the 7th. McDonald, with a single and a walk on the day, lead off the inning with her first out, a grounder to Bures. Wilkerson foulded out to Piper, and the Glory needed just one more out. Pauly got two strikes on cleanup hitter Spencer, then got a flyout to LF to end the game.

Our offense did just enough to win this game, but Pauly can't be expected to pitch as well as she did for two more games today (if she even pitches again). We need to start really hitting against the Bandits.

The Championship, and if game, are to be streamed live on MLB.com. This page has a link to it.