The drama in Year 2 continues as new players and heroes step up seemingly every week.
On Saturday, a surprise starter in the circle for Team Jaquish came up big as part of a nail-biting shutout in the early game and in the nightcap Anissa Urtez produced four big RBIs.
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Game 19: Denham & Wagner Combine for 2-Hit Shutout Against Team Osterman
ROSEMONT, Ill. – Alyssa Denham may have been a surprise starting pitcher for Team Jaquish (Orange) Saturday, but she quickly justified the faith captain Sahvanna Jaquish showed in her.
Making her first start in the circle for Athletes Unlimited, Denham (1-0) tossed five innings of one-hit ball to lead Team Jaquish to a 2-0 victory over Team Osterman (Blue) Saturday at Parkway Bank Sports Complex.
“I was a little nervous,” Denham said. “(Jaquish) told me a couple days ago, so she gave me some time to sit on it. That way I wasn’t super nervous at the moment. I was able to get into the right head space.
Thanks to Athletes Unlimited’s scoring system, Denham was able to leap from 35th on the overall points leaderboard to 15th, going from 634 points to 874. Team Jaquish took all 70 innings points and got 50 for the victory. In addition to her in-game stats points, Denham was voted the game’s MVP 1, earning her 60 additional points.
The key for her was keeping the ball on the ground and getting quick outs. She got 11 outs on the ground, including an inning-ending double-play in the third.
“I’m a ground ball pitcher,” she said. “That’s the name of my game. If I execute that well, that’s usually what happens. That’s a good thing.”
Team Jaquish finally broke through against Taylor McQuillin (3-1) to open the scoring in the bottom of the fourth inning for 40 innings points. Tori Vidales led off with a line-drive home run that barely cleared the wall in left field.
Click on the video below to watch highlights from the first game on Saturday:
“No, not at all, actually,” Vidales said when asked if she thought the ball had enough height to get out. “I thought it was going to hit the wall so hard that I was not even going to make it to first base before Bubba (Nickles) threw it in. I was very happy it went over.”
While Denham was an 11th-round draft pick for this weekend, Vidales went in the first round (third overall pick), even after she missed a couple of days last weekend. For her efforts Saturday, she picked up 40 points for being MVP 2.
“I was really surprised,” she said. “Last week, I missed two games. I was only going to be there for the Monday game, so I got picked a lot later in the draft. This week coming back, I didn’t know what to expect. I had been going a little bit higher just because of my bat. I was really shocked when I got the invite for the breakout room. I’m just glad to be on Team Orange. We have a great team put together and a lot of chemistry.”
Team Jaquish scored once more in the fourth. After Caleigh Clifton struck out, Megan Wiggins doubled to the gap in right-center. Nadia Taylor followed immediately with an RBI double to left.
“I would say really to just kind of pace,” Taylor said of her approach at the plate. “Alyssa has been kind of encouraging me. So has Tori, just in our BP sessions. ‘Hey, stay calm and have fun.’ So what I really did was, after my first at-bat, settle down and really just play the game pitch to pitch.”
Taylor was named MVP 3 for 20 extra points.
Haylie Wagner finished things off for Team Jaquish, earning her first save of her first save of the season with two innings of one-hit ball.
As far as team chemistry goes, Taylor said Team Jaquish is finding an identity already.
“We’re the Lions,” Taylor said. “So we’re hungry and want to eat. We have the Lion King theme. Everybody’s bought in, and we love it. We’re having a lot of fun. The team chemistry I would say, is unmatched.”
— Bruce Miles, Athletes Unlimited
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Game 20: Anissa Urtez Drives in 4 Runs as Team Chidester Tops Team Ocasio, 8-3, in Extra Innings
ROSEMONT, Ill. – It’s been quite the few days for Anissa Urtez.
First, she was taken in the first round of this week’s Athletes Unlimited Softball draft by Team Gold Captain Amanda Chidester.
Urtez made it all look good Saturday night as she had an RBI single as part of a three-run sixth inning that gave Gold a 3-0 lead and 60 rollover innings points.
Team Ocasio (Purple) tied the game in the bottom of the 7th, but never fear, Urtez was there.
Her three-run triple in the eighth was the tie-breaker as Team Chidester scored an extra-inning 8-3 victory Saturday night at Parkway Bank Sports Complex.
“It feels good to win, it feels good to do good,” said Urtez, the game’s MVP 1. “Our pitchers came out really great, and our hitters came out really great. I think it was an overall good team good, so I’m really happy for the rest of the weekend.”
Check out the highlights from the exciting final game of the day:
Urtez may have had some inside information that she would be a first-round pick by Chidester, her fiancée.
“I kind of had a feeling,” Urtez said with a smile. “We had talked about it a little bit. I knew I was going to be up there, either in the first or second round. So that was cool.”
Until late in the game, this was the second pitchers’ duel of the day, as Team Chidester starter Carrie Eberle hooked up with Purple’s Aleshia Ocasio, who wound up pitching all eight innings.
With the 60 innings points on the line, Team Chidester broke through in the top of the sixth.
Sam Fischer led off with her first home run of the season and just her second hit. The ball carried high down the left-field line and was being pushed toward the line by a strong wind. It stayed fair, and Fischer had a homer, which was upheld on replay.
Fischer, the game’s MVP 2, said she didn’t think she needed to “will” the ball fair.
“A little bit, but for the most part, when I saw it off the bat, I thought it had a chance,” she said. “I think as hitter, you kind of get a feel of what’s going to happen on certain balls. I watched it a little. I saw that it was crossing. I was just hoping they would make the right call because it landed foul (after it cleared the wall fair).”
Chidester singled to center field and was forced at second on a grounder by Haylie McCleney. Ali Aguilar walked, and Urtez singled home McCleney to put runners on first and second.
Morgan Zerkle then lifted a fly ball, which Jazmyn Jackson caught at the right-field wall. Aguilar kept running and scored all the way from second, with the play going as a sacrifice fly.
Team Ocasio didn’t lie down. Ocasio hit a one-out triple in the bottom of the seventh against Amber Fiser. Amanda Sanchez singled home Ocasio, and Amanda Lorenz later double home the tying runs.
Sara Groenewegen relieved Fiser and put out the fire. It was the second time Groenewegen was called on to relieve in the game. She worked the fifth and sixth innings, as well. For her efforts, she earned the win to improve to 2-5. She also was voted MVP3.
“I honestly didn’t think I could (re-enter the game),” she said. “With AU, the rules are just a little bit different. Usually, the starter can come back in. I was kind of shocked. I was ready, and I told Chiddy I’m a competitor, and if you need me out there, I’m good. It’s more so late in the game, especially after you pitch, it’s more so if you’re ready in the brain. I think your body’s warm regardless. I was ready to go out there and compete.”
Urtez’s three-run triple (officially ruled a double, with Urtez reaching third on an error) was one of two triples hit that inning. Sydney Romero drove in two more with a triple later in the inning to put the game on ice.
— Bruce Miles, Athletes Unlimited
