Tammy Williams sent a laser to the left field wall to open the bottom half of the fifth with a double. With Williams on second, Bandits outfielder Izmena Cabrera smacked a hard grounder up the middle, passed the diving glove of Courtney Bures for an RBI double, giving the Bandits a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth.
photo is Kristie Fox hitting her home run in the fourth inning)
The Bandits (8-2) held on to take down the USSA Pride (1-4) by a score of 2-1. With one down in the top of the first, USSSA Pride designated player Kelly Kretschman put bat on ball for the 2-1 pitch from Bandits’ pitcher Eileen Canney (3-0), blasting the ball to deep right centerfield for the early 1-0 lead.
Canney settled down in the circle, getting Erin Glasco to strike out for the final out of the top half – Canney’s second strikeout of the first.
With Bandits’ catcher Rachel Folden on first and two down in the bottom of the first, Samantha Findlay stepped in to battle USSSA Pride pitcher Desiree Serrano. Findlay drew a walk on four straight balls to bring Nicole Trimboli to the plate.
After working count full against Serrano, Bandits right fielder Trimboli grounded out to first for the final out.
USSSA Pride’s LaDonia Hughes watched as four balls passed by, earning her a free pass to first and putting two on with two down in the top half of the second. Eileen Canney caught Callie Piper off guard, forcing her to pop up back to Canney.
Bandits’ centerfielder Caitlin Lever raced down the first baseline to beat out an infield single, stole second base, and moved to third one out later when Amber Patton dropped the sacrifice bunt. On third and with two down, she was stranded as Vicky Galindo popped out to shallow right field to end the inning.
After throwing three scoreless innings against the Bandits, USSSA Pride pitcher Desiree Serrano (0-2) stepped back into the circle to face off with Bandits second baseman Kristie Fox. Facing a 3-2 count from Serrano, Fox blasted the full- count pitch down the left field line. The ball squeezed just inside the left field foul pole and over the fence for the solo home run, tying the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth.
Two batters later, Bandits’ rookie Amber Patton singled up the middle to put one on for Vicky Galindo. With a 1-1 count, Patton raced off for second base, sliding in safely for the stolen base. Galindo drew a walk to put another Bandit on base for third baseman Stacy May – still with two down in the bottom half of the fourth. May grounded out to the pitcher, ending the Bandits’ threat.
After two USSSA Pride batters reached first and second safely with two outs, Bandits’ pitcher Eileen Canney squared off with Amber Jackson. Canney sent Jackson back to the bench with a strikeout for the final out of the inning.
After the go ahead run in the bottom of the fifth, Eileen Canney held tight the remaining two innings to earn the complete game victory over the USSA Pride. Canney finished with seven innings pitched, six strikeouts and only giving up five hits. She also walked two while giving up only one run in 25 batters faced.
The Bandits will hit the road now for two weeks of away games and will return home on July 15 to faceoff with the Venezuelan Olympic team.
