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Week 4 of the Athletes Unlimited softball season continued on Sunday with a huge home run barrage including five in the first game, led by Sahvanna Jaquish and Samantha Show who each hit a pair, and Morgan Howe’s three-run blast in the nightcap that was the scoring her team would need.
Here are recaps of the games today written by Bruce Miles for Athletes Unlimited and photos courtesy of Jade Hewitt Media.
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Game 21: Five home runs lead Team Hayward to an 8-3 victory over Team Reed
If we’re finding out one thing about Athletes Unlimited Softball, it’s that what happens on Draft Tuesday stays with us through the following weekend.
Take Team Blue Captain Victoria Hayward, for example.
It’s becoming apparent that Hayward put on a drafting clinic when she put together her team for this weekend in Rosemont. And success comes not only from the high-round picks.
On Saturday, Team Hayward beat a team captained by overall points leader Cat Osterman.
Then on Sunday, Hayward’s draft acumen was there for all to see in an 8-3 victory over Team Reed.
Hayward put together a power-packed offensive lineup. True to form, the Blue team put five balls over the wall – two by hot-hitting Sahvanna Jaquish, two by Samantha Show and one by Haylie McCleney.
Nobody wins without pitching, though, and Kelly Barnhill provided it with 5.2 innings of three-hit, three-run ball. Barnhill, who was taken by Hayward in the 11th round of last Tuesday’s draft, was perfect until Sam Fischer blooped a single into left-center field to open the bottom of the fifth inning. A double play quickly erased Fischer and then Hayward made a diving catch of captain Janie Reed’s liner to left.
Barnhill began finding her rhythm last weekend, and on Sunday, she was routinely hitting 70 mph, according to the scoreboard.
“I definitely felt more like myself this last weekend,” said Barnhill, who improved to 2-0 for the season. “I felt that I came out and my bullpens this week, I felt really good with all of my pitches. So it all just kind of came together this week. I think one of the main things was just getting ahead on batters, not getting behind, and keeping those runners off base.”
Barnhill’s teammates could not believe their good fortune that she lasted until the 11th round.
“So it’s actually really funny,” said Show, herself an eighth-round pick for this week’s play. “Before we got Kelly, we were actually surprised that she was still available. We knew that, one, having a four-pitcher staff is so valuable now, but also the fact that Kelly did throw so well last week and it kind of got overlooked for some strange reason.
“We were so excited to get her and add her to our staff. The fact that Vic is able to use us properly as pitchers to come in or throw innings so we keep the game in our hands is phenomenal.”
McCleney and Jaquish were Hayward’s second- and third-round picks after she drafted pitcher Haylie Wagner in the first round.
Jaquish walked and scored in Sunday’s first inning. She hit a two-run homer in a three-run fifth inning and then connected on a solo shot in the seventh. Show followed immediately with her second of the game to break open a 5-3 lead at the time. Jaquish hit two home runs Saturday.
“Just trying to do the same thing – be aggressive on the pitches I should hit,” she said. “That’s it.”
Jaquish earned MVP 1 honors and 60 extra points on top of the 90 stat points and 110 innings and victory points. Barnhill earned another 40 for MVP 2 honors, and McCleney added 20 extra for being the game’s third MVP choice.
For Team Reed, Amanda Chidester picked up 40 stat points for her three-run homer in the sixth inning that rallied her team from a 5-0 deficit.
As far as being the bargain of the draft, Barnhill seemed to be taking it all in stride.
“I was a little bit surprised that I went that low this week because I thought I had a pretty good performance last week,” she said. “Sometimes it’s not reflected on your performance. Sometimes teams can get people later just based upon what other people need and how people drafted their ‘unlimited’ (category), filling certain positions.
“At the end of the day, you just have to know your value and know your worth and just take it like that.”
So captains for Week 5 coming up: Take heed.
Here are the Game 21 video highlights:
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Game 22: Team Warren pitching shuts out Team Osterman 11-0
If there’s a feel-good story at Athletes Unlimited, it’s being authored by pitcher Jessica Burroughs.
Unavailable to play just two weeks ago, Burroughs on Sunday tossed one of the best games over the first four weekends of play so far.
Looking strong and fit, Burroughs tossed five innings of four-hit shutout ball in helping Team Warren beat Team Osterman 11-0 at Parkway Bank Sports complex.
Burroughs entered the day 0-3 with an 8.02 ERA, but she worked through the Team Gold lineup and left feeling good about herself, both mentally and physically.
“It feels really, really good to be back,” she said. “I’m kind of feeling like myself a little bit. Jessie Warren and I had a really good conversation before the game about just kind of going back and staying true to what I do best, and that’s what I stuck with today. It felt really good mentally and physically.”
It helped, too, that the Team Warren offense was ready to hit from the get-go, setting up a showdown Monday afternoon (4 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT) vs. Team Hayward in a battle of 2-0 teams this weekend and a battle of teams that bring power as their calling cards.
Team Warren got all it needed in a five-run first inning, sending 11 batters to the plate and chasing pitcher Trish Parks, who joined Athletes Unlimited this past week and was a fourth-round draft pick of Team Osterman. Parks lasted just two-thirds of an inning, giving up three hits and five runs (four earned).
Captain Warren got things going right away with a leadoff homer to left-center. Erika Piancastelli singled, and Tori Vidales walked, setting the stage for Morgan Howe to blast a three-run homer to left-center.
Howe also doubled and singled, giving her 70 stats points Vidales homered in the second, and Nadia Taylor added a big three-run homer in the fourth to make it a 10-0 game.
With a triple in her final at-bat, Howe would have hit for the cycle, but it was not to be.
“It did cross my mind; that’s why it didn’t happen,” she said with a smile. “I was sitting out there in the outfield and (thinking), ‘Oh, no. It’s not happening today.’”
Howe gets it done at the plate in an unusual and some would say old-school way. She’s the only player here not wearing batting gloves when she hits.
“I think it just feels better,” she said. “I personally want to feel everything – the good, bad and ugly. If I get jammed, I feel it.”
Howe earned MVP 2 honors (40 extra points) to finish behind Burroughs, who picked up 60 extra points for MVP 1 honors. Warren won MVP 3 (20 points) and now has 1,460 overall points as she sits second to leader Cat Osterman (1,726).
Tori Vidales and Nadia Taylor also hit homers for Team Warren. There are some interesting things to watch as Athletes Unlimited gets set to wrap up the penultimate weekend of softball play.
Monday afternoon’s game will feature the captains who drafted third and fourth, respectively, in Victoria Hayward (Blue) and Warren (Purple). The top two drafting teams, Osterman and Reed, will square off at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT with 0-2 records this weekend. So these past two days have been a tribute to the drafting of both Hayward and Warren, both experienced captains.
“I am super happy with the picks that I got,” Warren said. “I had a set plan going into the draft. The majority of my plan came out to what I wanted it to be. The Zoom room (on draft day) was [where] we talk about who we think is the best fit for that position or for the team, has good vibes and positive energy. I think everyone here is a good fit any team because these 56 athletes that are here are talented beyond measure.”
And there’s that little matter of the race for the top two points spots overall between Osterman and Warren.
I honestly didn’t even know about the points or where I stand in the rankings,” Warren said. “To be honest, I’m here to play softball. I’m not really worried about where I sit 1-56. I’m having the time of my life just playing the game of softball with these girls that the points don’t even matter to me. I’m so in love with this game and just so grateful to be here to play the game.
“Those points and stuff never really cross my mind. Obviously, when we’re in the game, we talk about winning the innings and things like that. I don’t really focus where I’m at rank-wise.”
Here are the Game 22 video highlights: