WPCNR PRESS BOX. By Fastpitch Johnny. June 23, 2006: The Chicago Bandits who fell a run short of the NPF Championship last August took command of the NPF the last two nights, dropping the Connecticut Brakettes out of first place with two impressive victories, showing a mix of smart-hitting, pitching depth, short-game execution and speed that pressured the Connecticut Brakettes. With two games left Saturday at 7:05 and Sunday at 5:05 P.M., the Brakettes hope to find their hitting and fielding stride against the relentless Bandits.
Fielder’s Choice: Chicago’s Vicki Galindo after backhanding Jessica Merchant’s grounder (Merchant is rounding first) in the hole and tagging Stephanie Best running by, watches the third base umpire call Stephanie out. The play prevented big damage in the third in the first game of the Bandit series Thursday night in Bridgeport. Photo, WPCNR Sports.
The Brakettes are loaded with strong power hitters, but despite numerous opportunities to brake the game open against the Bandits Thursday, they could not get the big bop or bingle when they needed it. Bandit speed broke open the game. Patience and intelligence at the plate turned the tide against the Brakettes’ Kaci Clark who pitched into and out of jams, but tired in the fifth and sixth innings as the Bandits overcome a 2-0 deficit with crooked numbers in the 5th and 4 in the 6th .
The Connecticut Brakettes lost their third straight game Friday night. Sarah Pauly pitched a complete game surrendering two runs on three hits, fanning seven, and one unearned run.
Nicole Trimboli, reached on Stephanie Hill error at first. Mackenzie Vandergeest sacriced the runner and catcher Selina Collins singled to right field to give Chicago a 1-0 lead and get the Bandit’s first hit.
In the sixth, Vicky Galindo got to second on what should have been a single, reaching second when leftfielder Aimee Minor who did not see Galindo sneaking into second base. Pauly missed the fielders choice on the next hitter. Walked Jaime Clark intentionally, but Nicole Trimboli grounded to the right side to drive in the second run.
The unsung heroine of the New York Juggernaut championship season of 2004, Gina Oaks 1-hit the Brakettes after a shaky start, shutting them out 2-0, with Sarah Pauly (4-2) taking the loss.
Little Leaguer throws out the first ball Thursday night before opener of the Bandit-Brakette Series. Photo, WPCNR Sports.
Bandit Bounceback
You have to like this Bandit club, arriving an hour late due to airplane delays they took the field at 8, and kept Kaci Clark in trouble every inning, taking the diminutive fireballer into long counts, going to school and tiring her out. Of course, the same was happening to Jessica Salinger, because that connoisseur of the strike zone, Clem De Rosa was calling balls and strikes.
Fiery Competitor Jessica Salinger throwing heat for the Bandits Thursday night. Photo, WPCNR Sports
Mr. DeRosa savors each pitch like a food critic and if it is not to his taste and just right he calls it a ball, or if it has merit, he calls it a strike. He produces a lot of agitation from both benches with his long counts produced by his picky, inconsistent strike zone. We saw this last week when he was behind the plate for the Racers game. Hitters and pitchers suffer brutally with Mr. DeRosa behind the plate. Thursday evening was not exception.
The Brakettes threatened in the second and broke through on a single by Stephanie Best a walk (on 3-2) to Kellie Wilkerson. A fielder’s choice nifty grab by Vickie Galindo, the Bandit third sacker got the second out on sharply hit ball to her backhand side by Jessica Merchant, and she tagged Best out going to third. Then Mr. DeRosa the umpire took over the game.
Salinger worked Kelly Kretschman to 3-2 and several fouls that brought groans from both benches, and lost her on a very close pitch to load the bases. Stephanie Hill hit a grounder to short that the Bandit shortstop Jaime Clark lost her grip on and threw it wildly to first, allowing Kellie Wilkerson to score the first run. Christina Enea, the first baser tried to tag Steph coming down, but missed her. Enea throw wildly to Serena Collins at the plate allowing Merchant to score. Kaci Clark had a 2-0 lead.
Kaci Clark In Motion. Photo, WPCNR Sports.
UCLA’s Andrea Duran debuted for the Brakettes Thursday night. The UCLA star will be with the Brakettes for the season. Photo, WPCNR Sports.
Kaci struck out the side in the fourth and the 150 fans on hand were confident.
In the fifth the tiring Clark fell victim to the Bandit speed. Anne Stefan bunted down third way and beat it out for a hit. Vicki Galindo, lefty hitter slap hit sharply deep in the shortstop hole the Brakettes’ Jess Merchant did not have a play. Two on. Nobody out. Kaci muscled up and struck out Trina Peel.
Jaime Clark the cleanup-woman, attoned for her error in the third and her strikeout in the third with two in scoring position. She took Kaci’s fastest two pitches of the night for 2 strikes. Then Kaci threw a bad 0-2 pitch – righty hitting Clark struck the ball on a line to right to the opposite field sharply sinking. Adrienne Alo making her first start in right for the Brakettes was indecisive as to whether to dive for the ball. She stopped and it skipped off her glove past her 10 feet. She threw to third allowing Steffan to score, to make it 2-1, with Galindo to third and Clark taking second.
Clark said of her game-tying hit, “Just trying to not try to outthink her. She was pitching to me. I thought maybe they wouldn’t, so I was being a little bit passive at the plate. If I was going down I was going down swinging so I took the pressure off myself. I think it was a curve ball. It was a good pitch to hit, we had the runner going, so I took advantage of it..yeah…yeah.”
With Nicole Tromboli up, Kaci threw a wild pitch 5 feet over catcher Fairchild allowing Galindo to scamper in and tie the score, 2-2. To add insult, Clark induced Tromboli to ground to first holding the runner.
Mackenzie Vandergeest had been made to look bad by Kaci her first two times up, striking out twice. Not this time. On a 3-2 pitch, Mackenzie ripped a single up the middle to score Clark with the winning run.
After the game Mack told how she adjusted after Clark had struck her out twice: “She was going outside with a lot of them and I was staying off the rise ball a little bit better. Just made adjustments, shorter swing instead of such a big hack I shortened up a little bit and put it in play.”
In the fifth, the Bandits Salinger tried to protect the 1-run lead. The Brakettes attempted to strike back. Kellie Wilkerson worked Salinger for another 3-2 Clem De Rosa walk. Gene Lenti, Bandit Co-Head Coach had had enough. He went out gave Jess the hook and brought in Amy Harre, the fireballing blonde Valkeree.
On a 2-0 pitch Harre served one up a little too good to Jessica Merchant and she blasted it into the right centerfield alley to the fence. Wilkerson was at third when the ball was picked up but Patti Fernandez the Brakette third base coach did not send her in to attempt to tie the score. Harre was still in mucho trouboles.
Not to worry. She induced Kelly Kretschmer who is off to a bad start against big league pitching to induce a check swing roller to the circle for an easy out. Wilkerson languished at third. Next Harre got Stephanie Hill on another late swing grounder to first. End of threat.
The Bandits continued their havoc against Kaci Clark in the sixth, scoring four more runs after Kaci was almost out of an inning that started badly.
Stacy May singled sharply through the shortstop hole. Clark hit Annie Steffan in the hand with a pitch. Two on. Nobody out. Galindo sacrificed the runners up perfectly. Peel hit into a force play. Two down.
Up came Jaime Clark, the clean-up woman and she burned Kace again on the very first pitch to ice the game. On Clark’s first pitch she drove the ball high far and one-hop to the fence in deep right center in the humid night, for a bases clearing triple to score May and Steffan. It was 5-2, Bandits. However the Brakette outfield took a long time getting the ball in. Nicole Trimboli singled to right on a 1-2 pitch to score Clark and it was 6-2.
Then the Brakettes lost their concentration on a steal attempt when the catcher’s throw went off the glove of the shortstop into center but no one was backing up. Trimboli scampered to third and centerfielder Kretschman’s throw to third went wild allowing Trimboli to score to make it 7-2.
Harre finished off the Brakettes in the sixth and seventh and the Bandits had a surprise win to end a bad travel day.
Friday night the master of subtle movement, Gina Oaks blanked the Brakettes. Connecticut now trails Chicago by 2-1/2 games for first place with a 7-4 record to the Bandits’ 10-3. Gametime Saturday is 7:05 P.M.
Inside Fastpitch
Bandits Co-Head Coach, Gene Lenti was really pleased about the come-from-behinder win Thursday after the long journey in from Chicago: “We told them it was a great effort tonight. We had a lot of difficulties travel-wise. They just overcome it. They don’t even think about it. It’s never really a bid deal to them. We don’t allow it to be and they don’t allow it to be. We started off a little shaky, one inning we had a lot of errors and a lot of mistakes but then we came back we just never really gave up. And that’s been the way the Bandits have played ever since we’ve been in existence. No matter what the score, or the situation, we don’t give up. I think that’s indicative of the inning we scored the four runs. It was all with two out.”
“We struggled a little bit against China Taipai. They’re a very good team. We took the last two, and we’re in good shape going this way now. We’re working hard out there and putting runs on the board.”
Asked how the Bandits were drawing in Chicago, the manager said, “We had our biggest crowd out Monday night against China Taipai, drawing 1,300. Tuesday night, over a thousand. It’s starting to pick a bit. School’s over. Graduations over. We’re starting to get the travel teams coming in.”
WPCNR asked what adjustments they made with their hitters against Kaci Clark tonight: “We thought she was really owning the outside part of the plate. She was getting us out on the outsidehalf. In the inning we scored three runs and the 4 runs, we tried to take those outside away from her. You can see we had a lot of balls to rightcenter, rightfield. That’s the thing you got to do. You can’t fight Kaci’s pitches you have to go with them. We didn’t want her to dominate both the outside and the upper part of the plate. So we said let’s get this one on the top of the plate and take away the outside and make it a little bit more the middle.”
I asked how he figures out what to do, if the hitters tell him what’s happening:
“They’re getting themselves out. It’s different if the pitcher’s getting you out. But you’re getting yourself out when you’re swinging and missing on good pitches over the plate and we’re not making adjustments. There are some things we want to encourage the pitcher to do and some things we want to discourage the pitcher to do. “
The National Pro Fastpitch Standings June 24, 2006:
W L GB
Chicago 10 3 ____
Connecticut 7 4 2-1/2
Texas 9 6 2-1/2
Akron 7 5 2-1/2
New England 4 4 5
Arizona 7 8 4
Philadelphia 3 7 5-1/2
