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After Roche worked a 1-2-3 fourth, the Queens added another run in the top of the fifth on one-out doubles by Lansdell and Mackay. Still, at 4-0, the lead was far from safe, and the Heights answered that fifth-inning run with one of their own when, with two outs and the lineup turning over for the second time, right fielder Natsuki Yonetani singled and advanced on a wild pitch, and captain Denae Benites singled Yonetani home to make it 4-1.<\/p>\n
At 4-1 through five innings, this game felt nearly as tense as the seesaw postseason opener between the Firebells and Hunters on Wednesday night, particularly given the explosive potential of the Heights lineup. However the tenor of the game changed in the final two innings.<\/p>\n
In the top of the sixth, the Queens added a pair of insurance runs against lefty reliever London Studer, who had replaced Saiki the previous inning and stranded Mackay at second base. With a five-run lead and thoughts of possibly needing Roche again later in the series, Young pulled his young starter at 65 pitches and gave the ball to his left fielder, Isabella Villarreal. However, Villarreal struggled to throw strikes and quickly loaded the bases with no outs, so Young capitulated and brought in his shut-down closer, Meggie Meidlinger.<\/p>\n
Meidlinger needed just seven pitches to erase all three runners. First, she stabbed a sharp comebacker from Alyssa Zettlemoyer, making her first start at third base for New York in two weeks, and turned it into a double play by doubling second baseman Madison Willan off first base. Meidlinger then got ninth-place hitter Claire Eccles to fly out to center to strand the remaining runners.<\/p>\n
In the top of the seventh, Studer ran into her own control issues, with two walks, a hit batter, and a wild pitch surrounding a well-placed single by Meidlinger (in just her second at-bat of the season) to plate one run and load the bases. Now down 7-1, Heights manager Rocky Henley called Keira Izumi in from left field only for Izumi to be just as wild, walking three of the first four baters she faced and allowing all three inherited runners to score run the tally to 10-1.<\/p>\n
The Heights made noise against the typically dominant Meidlinger in the bottom of the seventh, with the top of the order plating a pair of runs with the help of a fielding error by Queens shortstop Ayuri Shimano, but it was too little too late for this game, as Meidlinger induced another double play and fly out to center to complete the Queens\u2019 10-3 win.<\/p>\n
An argument could be made that, with Roche dominating the way she did and Meidlinger ready to go two innings, Henley\u2019s choice of relievers was ultimately irrelevant (chalk the Heights\u2019 two runs against Meidlinger in the seventh up to a bit of a hangover after the pitcher-only had to run the bases in the top of the inning). There\u2019s also an argument that Henley let this game get away by staying with Studer too long and bringing in Izumi, who has had control issues all season and entered the game with eight walks and five wild pitches against no strikeouts and a 4.500 WHIP in four innings of work.<\/p>\n
Henley admitted after the game that center fielder and left-handed knuckleballer Claire Eccles, who turned in the most dominant relief appearance of the season in her last pitching appearance, was part of her initial pitching plan. Perhaps with incumbent closer Jaida Lee still on the inactive list due to an ankle injury, Henley was overly cautious in deploying Eccles. Perhaps she made the right move in saving Eccles for Game 2. We\u2019ll find out soon enough.<\/p>\n
Either way, the Heights were clearly outmaneuvered by the Queens in this game, the Villarreal interregnum proving to be the only flaw in LA\u2019s gameplan. New York now faces elimination on Saturday in Game 2 of this series, which will start at 7 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n
Henley told reporters after Thursday\u2019s game that, \u201cas of right now\u201d she intends to start Rakyung Kim in that game. If so, it will be Kim\u2019s fourth start against the Queens this season. Young will likely choose between Sato and Shimano for the Game 2 start. Shimano threw three hitless innings against the Heights in her only appearance against them on Aug. 29.<\/p>\n
Tonight, the Boston Hunters will either snap their six-game losing streak against the San Francisco Firebells or their participation in this landmark inaugural season will come to a end. That game will start at 6 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n
Injury Updates<\/p>\n
Heights closer Jaida Lee, who rolled her right ankle during practice prior to the final week of the regular season, was on the inactive list for this game and still in her walking boot during the game. ESPN sideline reporter Genna Rose reported that Lee was seen without the boot and walking with a slight limp prior to the game and that Lee hoped to be available next week. After the game, manager Rocky Henley was a bit more optimistic saying that Lee is \u201cday-to-day. I\u2019m hopeful. \u2026 We\u2019ll see what happens [Friday], how she wakes up and feels.\u201d<\/p>\n
Notes<\/p>\n
The start of this game was delayed by more than an hour by rain, and there were two lengthy delays midgame, one in the bottom of the third so the grounds crew could attend to the dirt around second base (about seven minutes), and another in the next inning when Queens right fielder Amira Hondras had the contact lens in her right eye slip out of place (about five minutes). After the game, the Heights denied that the rain delay sapped the intensity that they showed in their final two regular season games, though I have my doubts. As for Roche, she said she knew about the potential delay before coming to the ballpark and passed the time playing games, including hacky sack, with her teammates. She also told reporters she got 11 hours of sleep the night before, adding \u201cI might do that a bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n
For their part, the Heights spent the delay celebrating captain Denae Benites\u2019s 25th birthday, Keira Izumi told reporters after the game.<\/p>\n
Speaking of Benites, I\u2019ve been critical of the Heights\u2019 catcher\u2019s pitch blocking this season, but Benites (who went 2-for-3 at the plate with an RBI, a run scored, and a hit-by-pitch in this game) had an outstanding game behind the plate for New York on Thursday night and was a huge reason why the game remained so close for so long. By my count, Benites blocked seven of eight pitches in the dirt with runners on base and reacted quickly to catch another four pitches that were way off target, at least one of which required her to leap out of her crouch. She also threw out two runners to help mitigate Queens rallies. In the fourth, with two outs and runners on first and second, Benites back-picked Amira Hondras, catching her off second base to end the inning. Then, in the sixth, she threw out Samaria Ben\u00edtez attempting to steal second for the second out of that inning.<\/p>\n
Finally, I\u2019ve noticed Heights left fielder London Studer lick her bat during an at-bat on multiple occasions this season. She did it again in the bottom of the seventh inning in this game and promptly connected for an RBI single on the next pitch. Studer wasn\u2019t in the postgame press conference (she seemed pretty upset about her pitching performance in the top of the seventh), but I had to ask her teammates about it. Izumi said, \u201cthat\u2019s something we\u2019ve been asking for a long time. \u2026 She says its a mindset thing.\u201d <\/p>\n
Explaining Studer\u2019s thinking, Izumi said, \u201cWhen you go to the batter\u2019s box, you have to think that you\u2019re the best \u2026 hitter in the entire world. For her, that\u2019s her moment to really collect and be like, \u2018If the pitcher throws me a strike, I\u2019m going to hit that thing 450 [feet] to the moon.\u2019 And she also just likes to be one with the bat.\u201d I haven\u2019t kept track of Studer\u2019s post-lick success rate, but it worked Thursday night.<\/p>\n
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