The past two days of Athletes Unlimited Softball League saw the top teams in the standings, the Talons and Bandits, fall to the opposing side in their latest game. The Blaze pulled off an upset by shutting out the Talons 2-0 in the Salt Lake City series Saturday, July 19, while the Volts shocked the Bandits to a 7-5 win in Round Rock, Texas Sunday, July 20.
Talons bid for Utah capital sweep turned to ashes
Prior to the Talons having their win streak end on Saturday, they began by extinguishing the Blaze 4-1 on Wednesday, followed by the same outcome of 5-4 on Thursday and 3-2 on Friday.
The Blaze got off to an early start against the Talons in the first inning, where a coaching challenge gave second base to first baseman Baylee Klingler and scored the first run thanks to left fielder Korbe Otis.
The next three innings did not see any offensive action due to both team’s reliance on defense, which included the Blaze changing pitchers from Devyn Netz to Aleshia Ocasio in the fourth inning and Talons exchanging Montana Fouts for Megan Faraimo in the fifth inning.
The Blaze made another sub when Keilani Ricketts entered the circle in the sixth inning while the flamers held on the one-run lead. After right fielder Megan Clark flied out to the centerfield, third baseman Ana Gold crossed home plate for the second and final run.
After Alana Vawter relieved Ricketts on the mound in the seventh inning, three straight ground outs to Gold and shortstop Anissa Urtez ended the game with the Blaze winning 2-0 and concluding Salt City Lake on a positive note.
Bandits ran out of ammo after three Lone Star-straight-shooter bullseyes
Heading down southeast to Round Rock, the Bandits gunned down the Volts to an 8-7 victory on Thursday. The outlaws kept the streak alive after winning the two highest-attended games in Texas and AUSL history, with a 9-2 win on Friday followed by over 6,500 spectators witnessing their 4-3 victory on Saturday.
The Bandits kicked off the first inning with pitcher Emiley Kennedy striking out Volts centerfielder Ciara Briggs. The lower-ranking team once again grabbed the first run as Volts’ shortstop Tiare Jennings singled to the right field to score for leftfielder Amanda Lorenz. The Bandits took the lead while on deck when shortstop Skylar Wallace smacked a double RBI homerun for her and leftfielder Morgan Zerkle, putting the outlaws ahead 2-1.
The second inning had the Volts make a hectic comeback when two throwing errors by Kennedy and Bella Dayton resulted in right fielder Danieca Coffey, Briggs, Lorenz, and designated player Mia Scott scoring four runs on a single play, then Jennings’s solo dinger finished the job for a 6-2 lead.
With a four-run gap for the Bandits to overcome, Odicci Alexander relieved Kennedy on the mound before the third inning while the Volts subbed Garcia for Payton Gottshall in the bottom.
Third baseman Jessi Warren continued the Volts’ dominance in the fifth inning by smacking a homer down the left field line while Gottshall tossed her first strikeout of the day, leading the Bandits 7-2.
The sixth inning saw both teams make second pitching changes, the Bandits to Sarah Willis and the Volts to Sam Show. Third baseman Delanie Wisz smacked the second homer of the Bandits, cutting the score deficit to 7-3.
The relief pitching strategy for the Volts continued into the seventh inning when Sam Landry entered the circle and immediately tossed a strikeout. After Jennings committed a fielding error, Wallace swung a two-run bomb for the trailing Bandits with the hope of regaining the lead. Although the Volts did not score any more runs, a final strikeout tossed by Landry granted them a 7-5 victory to end the Round Rock bout.
Despite the recent hiccups, the Talons and Bandits are the only championship contenders left
Although Talon’s sole loss brought their record down to 17-5, the claws soar ahead of the competition as the highest ranked team while the Blaze continues to trail everyone else at 6-16. The Bandits remain firmly in second place with a 14-8 record after the Round Rock trip as the Volts sit a distant third at 7-15. With only two remaining games in the regular season, next week is essentially postseason rehearsals as the Talons are guaranteed the number one seed along with home field advantage. The Bandits will also be present, as they hope to rob the flock’s dreams and become the first ever AUSL champions.
All four teams will be playing their final regular season slate starting Tuesday, July 22. The Talons will get early postseason prep facing the Volts at the host site as both squads head down to Tuscaloosa, Ala. for a two-game series. Meanwhile at a familiar facility, the Bandits and Blaze will meet for two days in Rosemont, Ill.
ESPN2 will broadcast the Tuscaloosa series, where the first pitch of game one is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CT at Rhoads Stadium. The Rosemont series will be broadcast on MLB.com and MLB.tv., and the start time of the opener is set for 7:30 p.m. CT in The Stadium at Parkway Bank Sports Complex.