The Chicago Bandits started off a busy day before the game by retiring former Bandit and USA Olympic pitcher Jennie Finch's number in center field and honoring players from last year's team with the Championship ring ceremony.
All the festivities had the fans
buzzing to begin the game, and the players must have felt it too. Monica
Abbott started in the circle for the Bandits and struck out the first
three batters she faced to quickly retire the side.
The first inning ended with neither team getting a runner on base and Abbott continued her hot pitching in the second. A Bandits error allowed the Pride to
advance a runner to first, but three more Abbott strikeouts brought a
quick ending to the inning again.
Both teams' bats were quiet through
the first three and a half innings, but Amanda Williams got the first
hit of the game as she hit a triple deep to the wall. Vicky Galindo was
next up to the plate and hit a grounder to Cat Osterman who bobbled it,
allowing Galindo to advance to first and Williams to come home to give
the Bandits a 1-0 lead.
The Pride continued to struggle to find a way
to get on base in the fourth, leading to another quick inning. In the
bottom of the fourth, Alisa Goler led off for the Bandits with a triple
to right field. The Bandits couldn't bring Goler home though, as
Osterman pitched three consecutive strikeouts to bring the inning to an
end, leaving Goler on third.
The fifth inning continued the fantastic
pitching matchup as Abbott struck out three more batters to bring her
total to 10 and Osterman struck out another to bring her total to nine
on the night.
Abbott kept up the heat in the sixth inning, striking
out two more batters bringing the count to 12. Before the bottom of the
sixth, the Pride brought in Jamee Juarez to pitch for Osterman. Juarez
picked up where Osterman left off, picking up a strikeout while holding
off the Bandits offense, leaving the game at 1-0.
The one run on three
hits would be all the offense the Bandits would need as Abbott pitched a
no hitter including 14 strikeouts.
After an exciting night that
included the retirement of Jennie Finch's number and Abbott's no hitter,
the Bandits held the first ever postgame fireworks show in The Ballpark
at Rosemont.
* Attendance for the game was 1198
* Jennie
Finch returned to the Bandits to have her number #27 retired by the
team
* Players from last year's team including Jamee Juarez and Robin
Thompson received their Championship rings prior to the game including
current members of the Bandits who played on the Championship
squad
STATS:
Monica Abbott (CHI): 7.0IP, 0H, 0R, 14K, 0BB
Cat
Osterman (USSSA): 5.0IP, 2H, 1R, 8K, 0BB
Jamee Juarez (USSSA): 1.0IP,
0H, 0R, 1K, 0BB
Amanda Williams (CHI): 1-2, 3B, 1R
Alisa Goler
(CHI): 1-3, 3B
