Just another Monday in Athletes Unlimited pro play which saw a big comeback, clutch pitching, massive home runs, runners thrown out at the plate and much more.
Here’s a recap of the pair of games that closed out the weekend’s final contests and saw Amanda Chidester continue her power surge which led to her taking the top spot on the points leaderboard…
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Game 17: Chidester & Nickles Lead Team Jaquish in 6th Inning Comeback Against Team Ocasio
ROSEMONT, Ill. – Fans of Athletes Unlimited softball know the drill: Keep one eye on the field and another on the points leaderboard, especially on these manic Monday nights.
The action on both fronts was breathtaking Monday. On the field, Team Jaquish (Blue) scored a stunning 3-2 come-from behind victory over Team Ocasio (Purple) in the first game of the doubleheader at Parkway Bank Sports Complex.
Hot-hitting Amanda Chidester hit a game-tying two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning against Aleshia Ocasio, who regrouped and got two quick outs. An error by first baseman Nadia Taylor on a grounder by DJ Sanders opened the door for Bubba Nickles, who hit a double to score pinch runner Ciara Bryan with the go-ahead run.
Team Blue survived an interesting top of the seventh, which featured an intentional walk to Amanda Lorenz with two outs and nobody on base. Reliever Carrie Eberle stranded the bases loaded to earn the save and preserve the victory for starter Taran Alvelo, who earned her first victory of the season against two losses.
The result scrambled the leaderboard heading into Monday night’s finale. Ocasio dropped from first to third on the board, with Chidester moving from fourth to first. The top four finishers are captains for the upcoming weekend’s games.
For Chidester, she hit her Athletes Unlimited-leading seventh homer of the season and third of this weekend session. It was a drive to center field against a stiff northeast wind.
“Honestly, I felt like I got a pretty good barrel on it,” said Chidester, who earned an important bonus of 60 points for being voted the game’s MVP 1 by the players. “But I had no idea what was going to happen. I was just, ‘See the ball, get the barrel on it and start running.’ That was my thought process there.”
Both teams entered Monday with 2-0 records.
Team Ocasio put a couple of runs up early. Morgan Zerkle singled with one out in the top of the first. One out later, she rode home on a double to the gap in right-center by Anissa Urtez.
In the second, Taylor walked with one out. With two outs, Ocasio singled, sending Taylor to third Lorenz singled home Taylor to make it 2-0.
The game’s pivotal moment may have been a defensive play by Team Jaquish center fielder Aliyah Andrews in the top of the sixth. Caleigh Clifton led off with a double to right-center and moved to third on a sacrifice by Taylor Edwards. The next batter, Taylor, lifted a flyball to medium center field. Andrews caught it and fired home to get the speedy Clifton at the plate to end the inning.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say I thought I had her from the start,” Andrews said. “I just thought about getting behind the ball and making sure I put a lot of power through it and to get it online. But I just knew it was going to be a close play. CC (Clifton) has speed, and it was kind of a deep ball. So I knew I had to get behind it and throw it as hard as I could.”
Click on the video below to see Game 17 highlights including Chidester’s home run, Andrews’ great throw and much more…
Alvelo sailed after giving up the runs in the first two innings. She won MVP 2 honors with Nickles earning MVP 3.
“I think it was just definitely taking it pitch by pitch and trying to keep my focus on that specific pitch to that specific batter and working for my teammates,” she said. “I knew that with our lineup, we were going to find ways to score. So I was just trying to keep the runs down as best I could to give our team an opportunity to come up big like they did.”
Reliever Eberle got two quick outs to start the seventh before Team Jaquish decided to walk Lorenz intentionally. Lorenz has been hot, but they put the tying run on base with two outs. Zerkle followed with a single before Hannah Flippen walked to load the bases. Eberle got Urtez looking to end the game and have everybody on Team Jaquish breathing a sigh of relief
“Amanda’s been having a hot bat right now,” said Chidester, Team Blue’s first baseman. “The last thing we wanted was hitting a homer and (tying) the game with one swing, which she is definitely capable of, and she’s done it the last two games. It wasn’t a bad move on SJ’s (Sahvanna Jaquish’s) part to make that call. Put the pressure on the other hitters to come up big in the situation.”
Ocasio (3-3) worked six innings, giving up five runs while walking five and striking out three as she took the tough-luck loss.
— Bruce Miles, Athletes Unlimited
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Game 18: Cat Osterman Throws Complete Game Shutout in 3-0 Victory Over Team McCleney
ROSEMONT, Ill. – The world is spinning correctly on its axis again.
And for that we may have a – shall we say — Cat nap to thank.
A well-rested Cat Osterman was her old self in the circle Monday night as she tossed a complete-game two-hitter to lead her team to a 3-0 victory over Team McCleney (Orange) at Parkway Bank Sports Complex.
The upshot is this: Osterman entered the day eighth in the overall points standings in Athletes Unlimited Softball and was in jeopardy of not being a captain next weekend, something she said doesn’t matter to her anyway. The focus, she said, is on winning as a team.
But with her team taking all 70 innings points and 50 for the game and Osterman piling up stats points and MVP 2 points (40), she vaulted into a second-place tie with Sahvanna Jaquish on the leaderboard.
Amanda Chidester has 1,132 point to lead all players, and she will captain Team Gold next weekend. Jaquish earned the tiebreaker over Osterman because of more win points, and she will captain Orange. Osterman will don Blue, and Aleshia Ocasio will captain Purple once again.
Click on the video below to see highlights from the night game…
Osterman (3-2) said a couple of things helped her bounce back from a six-run outing on Saturday. One was very basic.
“I think Saturday just reminded people I’m human, it happens,” she said. “It’s not the first time in my life I’ve given up a lot of runs and lost a ballgame. It was just a matter of trusting it’s a new day. I felt completely recovered and better today. You have to have a short-term memory to be an elite pitcher.”
Osterman also took to social media Monday to say that she had gotten a lot of sleep, including a rare nap.
“If you saw Twitter at all today, I slept a lot last night and this afternoon to make sure I was rested up,” she said. “Just doing some things to recover. The grind has been a lot for all of us that came off Tokyo.”
Team Osterman scored early to pick up 10 innings points in both the first and second. Victoria Hayward doubled with one out in the bottom of the first, earning 20 points and 10 more for a steal of third base. She later came home when Jessi Warren reached on an error by third baseman Riley Sartain-Vaughan.
A two-run homer by Megan Wiggins, her first of the year, gave Team Osterman a 3-0 lead in the second.
For the final two games of this week of play, Wiggins and Hayward flip-flopped in the batting order, with Wiggins moving up to the leadoff spot Hayward dropping into the 2-spot.
“You get hits, it don’t matter where you are in the lineup,” said Wiggins, the MVP 1 of the game, getting her 60 bonus points. “As a team, you have certain people in the lineup, but once the game gets going, different situations call for different people. Tonight was my night to get the big hit.”
In the No. 2 spot, Hayward was able to showcase all of her skill set – making contact, using her speed and finding holes. She doubled, walked, singled and stole two bases.
“As a player, my goal is to put pressure on the defense and let hitters like Wiggins and Jessi Warren hit me in,” she said. “So I was happy I was able I could put the ball where they weren’t and take advantage of baserunning, which is one of my strong suits. Happy with that. Hopefully we can get a little something rolling into next week.”
The MVP 3 of the game was Sashel Palacios of Team McCleney, who had a double. In the circle, Sara Groenewegen (1-5) worked 3.2 innings for Team McCleney, giving up four hits and three runs, two earned. Danielle O’Toole relieved her in the fourth, pitching 2.1 innings and striking out four batters.
— Bruce Miles, Athletes Unlimited
