May 16 - @ Blue Phantoms

Still reeling from last night's near upset, the Purple Lightning girls came to the fields confident but cautious. Down 3 girls - Maia was out of town, Alli was not available to play and Gabby's injury kept her out once again - Purple Lightning had to make some lineup and position changes in order to best utilize the remaining 9. Hosted by the Blue Phantoms, the Purple Lightning offense came out to start the game.

1st Inning
The Blue Phantom pitcher started off with a strike out on Janessa. Yazmine was next and the pitcher had a difficult time finding her strike zone and eventually walked her, putting a runner on base. Tess was next and Yazmine was able to steal 2nd. On the following pitch, Tess hit the ball and sent a grounder through the infield into right center for a single. Yazmine was able to reach home and put Purple Lightning on the board. Kelsey was up next and after getting to full count, the pitcher walked Kelsey, putting Lightning runners on 1st and 2nd. A pass ball on Hylah sent the Lightning runners on a successful steal. After getting to full count with runners now on 2nd and 3rd, the Blue Phantom pitcher walked Hylah and loaded the bases. Sara came to the plate. The count was 2 and 2 and Sara stayed alive with foul balls. With a ball, the count was full. On the next pitch Sara swung hard and connected. Unfortunately, the ball popped up and as the Infield Fly Rule was in effect, Sara was automatically out. The 2nd baseman went for the catch anyway, but missed and the runners took off and Tess was able to come home. Caitlin came up to bat and on a pass ball, Kelsey successfully stole home, putting one more on the board. A walk on Caitlin put 2 Lightning runners on base. When Erin took her turn at bat, Caitlin stole 2nd and with Hylah on 3rd, Purple Lighting was poised to score again. Unfortunately, the pitcher was able to get 3 past Erin to strike her out, closing out the 1st inning for the Lightning offense.

It was the Blue Phantom's turn to try to get some points on the board. Tess was in to pitch for the 1st inning. When the count was up to 2 and 2 on the 1st batter, Tess got her to keep swinging, but the batter was battling to stay alive with fould balls. Finally, she hit a grounder to 2nd base. Caitlin ran up to make the grab and, with some time, was able to make the throw to Kelsey at 1st for the out. The 2nd batter came up to see if she could do any better. After getting up to 2 and 2, it looked like the result would be the same, but Tess got her to swing at a ball to get the strike out on the 2nd batter. The next batter came to the plate and after getting up to full count, again this batter stayed alive with fouls. Finally she hit one out to right center toward Sara. Sara picked up the ball and overthrew 2nd, trying to hit her cut off. The runner was able to get a double on the play. With a runner on 2nd, Tess decided to go to work on the 4th batter. A strike out on the 4th batter kept the Blue Phantoms off the board in the 1st.

Purple Lightning 3 - Blue Phantoms 0

2nd Inning
Leading us off in the 2nd, Alexis came to the plate. After getting up to full count, the pitcher walked Alexis, putting a Lightning runner on base again. A walk on Janessa put runners on 1st and 2nd. With runners on 1st and 2nd, Yazmine was up next and on a pass ball, the runners went for the steal and made it to 2nd and 3rd. A walk on Yazmine loaded the bases. Tess was up next. With bases loaded and the threat of a big hit, the Blue Phantoms decided to bring in a new pitcher. The new pitcher almost hit Tess with a pitch, but eventually walked her on balls, bringing Alexis in to score. Kelsey was up next. After getting up to full count, the pitcher finally walked Kelsey, bringing Janessa across the plate. Next, Hylah stayed alive with foul balls, but eventually the pitcher got the better of her and struck her out, for the 1st out of the inning. Sara got a hit on her next at bat and bounced one toward the 2nd baseman. The Phantom 2nd baseman, thought about going to 1st for the out, but then made the decision to try to prevent Yazmine from scoring. That split-second was all Yazmine needed to come tearing across home. Trying to get the game under control, the Blue Phantom pitcher dug deep to get the strike out on Caitlin and followed it up with a strike out on Erin to hold Purple Lightning to 3 runs.

Kelsey came in to pitch the 2nd inning. A string of foul balls kept the 1st batter alive until Kelsey got one over to strike her out. With a count of 3 and 1, the 2nd batter hit one out to the outfield. Reacting quickly, Caitlin was able to get to the ball and throw it back in to hold the runner to a double on the play. A walk on the 3rd batter put runners on 1st and 2nd. The next batter was able to make contact. Sending a grounder through the infield, Alexis, playing short stop this inning, just missed the grab and the grounder reaches left field. Erin picked up the ball and threw it to Yazmine at 2nd to stop the runners, but the runner on 2nd had enough time to make it home and put Blue Phantoms on the board. A walk on the 5th batter loaded the bases. The next Blue Phantom batter was determined to make something happen. She swung on a ball and connected. The runners took off. On the bounce, Kelsey was able to reel it in and throw it to Hylah at home for the 2nd out, preventing the score. With the bases still loaded, the Blue Phantoms got another run in on a walk. The 8th batter hit a fast grounder down the 3rd base side. Janessa left the bag to pick up the grounder. Looking up, she saw the runner coming for 3rd and she turned around to race the runner back to the bag. At the last second, Janessa was able to reach out and tag the runner to get the last out of the inning.

Purple Lightning 6 - Blue Phantoms 2

3rd Inning
Leading off in the 3rd, Alexis worked up to full count then was walked by the pitcher. Janessa was up next. She connected on a pitch, but it was a short fly that the 1st baseman was able to catch for the 1st out of the inning. Yazmine came to the plate next. Alexis stole her way to 3rd base until the pitcher gave Yazmine 1st base on a walk. With Lightning runners on 1st and 3rd, Tess came to the plate. Quickly Yazmine stole 2nd and Purple Lighting was ready to score. After getting up to full count, Tess stayed alive with fouls, then hit a fast grounder to the Phantom short stop. She was able to collect the ball in time to make the throw to 1st for the out on Tess, but not before Alexis crossed the plate for a run. Kelsey was up next and she took the ball for a ride into right field. The outfielder missed the catch and gave Kelsey a double as Yazmine came home. Hylah was up next and Kelsey stole 3rd. On the next pitch, Kelsey came off the base for a steal on home, but the alert Phantom catcher got up and showed her the ball to back Kelsey off. A walk on Hylah put runners on 1st and 3rd. Sara came to the plate and determined to get a big hit, connected and sent a grounder through the Blue Phantom infield out to left center, bringing Kelsey across the plate. On Caitlin's next at bat, she got hit by a pitch and was walked, loading the bases. A walk on Erin brought Hylah in. With bases loaded and 2 outs, Alexis came to the plate for the 2nd time in the inning. Unfortunately, the Blue Phantom pitcher was able to get Alexis to swing, striking her out and retiring the side.

Trying to preserve the Purple Lightning lead, Tess was back in to pitch in the 3rd. After getting a little behind on the 1st batter, Tess was able fight back and get the strike out, but walks on the next 2 batters put runners on 1st and 2nd. The next batter was stubborn. She came up to the plate and worked herself through the count, then kept hitting fouls to stay alive. Low pitch, foul. Low pitch, foul. Tess worked it out and threw high on the next pitch and sure enough the batter went for the low pitch again and Tess was able to get her out of there. The 5th Phantom batter wasn't as easy. She made contact on a pitch and hit a hard grounder through the 1st base side. Caitlin ran up to the ball, put her glove down and made the stop. Turning, she made the easy throw to Kelsey at 1st, getting the out and shutting down the Blue Phantom offense in the 3rd.

Purple Lightning 10 - Blue Phantoms 2

4th Inning
Janessa came in to start Purple Lightning off in the 4th. She hit a grounder down the 3rd base side. Janessa got to 1st, but held up as the Blue Phantom 3rd baseman gained control of the ball. Yazmine was able to connect too, but popped it up. The second baseman came in to make the catch but missed and Yazmine made it to 1st. A walk on Tess loaded the bases. Kelsey came up to the plate and was able to connect, sending the ball toward the short stop. On the bounce, the runners made their move. The short stop reached out for the ball, but was not able get the glove around it and the ball hit the ground. Janessa came across the plate and the short stop was able to recover in time to make the short toss to 3rd to get the out on Yazmine. On Hylah's next trip up, she roped it out to right center. The runners on base took off as the right fielder moved toward the ball. The right fielder reached out her hand and was able to make the catch for the out and the runners were forced to quickly run back to their original positions. Sara came in and hit a grounder toward the short stop. This time she was able to make the stop and threw to 3rd for the out. Unfortunately, the 3rd baseman missed the catch and all runners advanced successfully and the bases were loaded. Caitlin was up next. After getting behind on the count, the pitcher was able to fight back to full count. Then, she was able to get Caitlin to swing, striking her out and holding the Purple Lightning to 1 point in the inning.

Kelsey was back in to pitch in the 4th. With a comfortable lead, it was time to slow the game down a bit. The 1st batter hit one down the 3rd base side. Janessa came out to field the ball and make the throw to Tess at 1st for the 1st out. The 2nd batter hit the ball too and sent one bouncing down the middle. Quickly, Kelsey was able to make the grab and turn to make the throw to Tess to get the 2nd out of the inning. With a quick 1, 2 punch, things had to slow down in order to preserve the lead. A walk on the 3rd batter put a Blue Phantom runner on. The 4th batter, trying to make something happen, hit one out to left field. Alexis adjusted and reached out her hand, but the ball was just out of her reach. She was able to recover and make the throw to Yazmine to hold it to a double, but the runner on base had time to make it around and come home. A successful steal and a walk on the next batter put runners on 1st and 3rd. The next batter was able to hit the ball too, this time sending a grounder to Janessa at 3rd. The runners were on the move. Janessa fielded the ball and threw it to 1st, but the runner was able to touch the base just in time and the runner on 3rd made it home. Coming alive, the next Blue Phantom batter came to the plate and hit one again out over Alexis for a double, this time brining in 2. Not wanting to relive the end of the previous game, it was time to get Tess in at the rubber to preserve the lead and close the game. The next batter caught Tess while she was still warming up and was able to send one out to left field, brining in another run. She then stole her way into scoring position. After getting to full count, a walk on the 9th Blue Phantom batter, put 2 runners on base. The Blue Phantoms' confidence grew as the Purple Lightning lead shrunk, the runner on 1st stole 2nd and the Blue Phantoms were threatening to score once again. With the count up to 2 and 2, Tess and the batter stared each other down. Calming herself, Tess got ready to pitch. The batter dug in, ready to make a big hit. It was on. Tess took her step as the batter reached back to load the bat. Tess came through with the wind up and sent the ball toward Hylah's glove. The batter waited a fraction of a second to get the timing right, then released the bat. The bat came around to meet the ball, then dipped at the last second and the ball sailed over. Tess ended the Blue Phantoms' late game surge by throwing the game ending strike.

Final Score
Purple Lightning 11 - Blue Phantoms 7

Game Ball
For her consistent performances throughout the season as well as filling in at short stop for Alli in the game, Yazmine received the game ball. Great job and great work out there!