Los Angeles Queens 1 win away from WPBL championship after bats erupt in Game 2
The Los Angeles Queens erupted for 10 runs in the fourth inning and defeated the San Francisco Firebells, 11-7, in Game 2 of the inaugural Women’s Professional Baseball League championship series on Thursday at Robin Roberts Field in Springfield, Ill. With the victory, the Queens seized a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
Maggie Foxx opened the scoring for Los Angeles with a solo home run to left field in the top of the second before San Francisco responded with two runs in the bottom half of the frame. The Firebells padded their early lead with two more in the third, but then the floodgates opened for L.A. in the huge fourth inning.
Foxx delivered an RBI single for the Queens in the fourth for the second of three hits in the game, but the big blow came off the bat of Ayuri Shimano, who belted a grand slam as part of a three-hit performance -- it was her second grand slam in three games after she smashed one as part of a 5-for-5 night in the decisive Game 3 of the semifinals against the New York Heights.
“We scored 10 runs in one inning, which was very explosive for our offense,” said Queens manager Eric Young. “ … We’re one win away from being champions, so I’m really proud about that.”
“We’re one game closer to a championship, and that’s what our eyes have been on from Day 1,” Foxx said. “ … We’ve just gotta stay focused for seven more innings of baseball and do the best we can to hopefully bring a title home to L.A.”
For the Firebells, Andreanne Leblanc and Samantha Gutierrez combined to go 8-for-8 and drove in six of San Francisco’s seven runs -- each had four hits and drove in three.
It was a sloppy game in the field for both sides, with six combined errors -- San Francisco committed six miscues that led to a pair of unearned runs for Los Angeles, while the Queens committed one.
With his club facing elimination, Firebells manager Matt Williams said he remains confident that it can rally despite being down in the series, 0-2.
“Our backs are against the wall,” Williams said. “We’ll have a day off to reset and see what we can do. We know what we have to do -- it’s right in front of us. The first game we played against the Queens [during the regular season], they beat us. But then we beat them three in a row.”
Game 3 of the WPBL championship series will take place on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET. If necessary, Game 4 will be at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, and a winner-take-all Game 5 would be at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday. All games will be played at Robin Roberts Stadium and will be streamed on ESPN+.