The San Francisco Firebells were the most dominant offensive team during the Women's Professional Baseball League’s inaugural regular season. They scored the most runs (142), hit the most home runs (19) and had the league’s highest OPS (1.041). In Sunday’s must-win Game 4 of the WPBL Championship Series, they showed off that offensive depth with a league-record 20 hits in a 17-4 victory against the Los Angeles Queens at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Ill. They will now play a winner-take-all Game 5 on Tuesday night to crown the first champion in WPBL history.
“We came out swinging today,” Jill Albayati said. “We came out a lot looser these last two days. We’re having fun.”
It looked like it was going to be a much tighter contest early. After San Francisco took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to Albayati’s two-run single, the Queens stormed back with three of their own in the bottom of the second as Ayuri Shimano walked with the bases loaded and captain Ashton Lansdell singled in two more. That led Firebells manager Matt Williams to lift his two-way superstar, Kelsie Whitmore, after just two frames and move her out to center field.
“It was three days after she threw 90 pitches and the last thing we want to do with the staff is put somebody in danger,” Williams said. “When you have games like this and you have good offense, it helps with those decisions. She looked like she was laboring a little bit in the second inning, so we decided to go ahead and get her back to center field, let her relax, and play the rest of the game.”
That offense made sure the Firebells wouldn’t need to worry about whoever was on the mound. Andreanne Leblanc tied the game at 3 with a solo shot to right field to end Shimano’s day on the mound. Queens manager Eric Young Sr. then turned to Game 1 hero Jamie Mackay in relief.
This time, the Firebells were ready for her.
They scored two more runs in the third on Joely Leguizamon’s double before starting a hit barrage in the fourth. The Firebells scratched out eight runs on eight hits as 14 batters came to the plate.
“Jamie in that first game was on fire,” Albayati said. “But we came out these past two days and figured ourselves out and relaxed. It was a good day for us to see the ball.”
Midway through the inning, with Los Angeles trailing 9-4, Young went to the Queens’ closer, Meggie Meidlinger, in hopes of stopping the Firebells attack. After throwing only 10 pitches in the last week, Meidlinger threw nearly 30 on Sunday and was tagged for three runs on four hits in just two-thirds of an inning.
“I have the mindset to be ready at any moment, anytime,” Meidlinger said. “I didn’t feel rusty and I’m ready to go in, whether it’s the 4th inning or the 7th inning.”
In the end, Firebells stars Albayati, Luguizamon and Jua Park each had four hits, while Whitmore contributed three.
“Playing good is fun,” Luguizamon -- who is 8-for-14 in the championship series -- said with a laugh. “I'm just glad it came at the right time. Throughout the season, that’s all I kept telling myself: I just had to believe that it was going to come around when we really needed it, and that's been the case.”
With Ela Day-Bedard throwing three solid innings in relief, it allowed the two managers to begin focusing on Game 5. Young turned to high schooler Addisyn Baird, who didn’t appear on the mound during the regular season, and Williams was able to leave Game 3’s pitchers Nicki Eckert and Liz Gilder on the bench.
“I think we’ve just lost a little bit of focus these last two games,” Lansdell said. “It’s been a long week-and-a-half, two weeks for us. Sometimes it’s hard to stay locked in, especially when it’s just baseball, baseball, baseball all the time. I think we just need a little rest and we’ll get that and come out, guns firing, ready to win.”
Game 5 will begin at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday. With the day off, the bullpens should be rested and all hands will be on deck. Though neither manager would name a probable, the Firebells will likely start Albayati, while the Queens could counter with second overall Draft pick Ayami Sato.
“It’s all coming down to the last game,” Lansdell said. “It’s going to be pretty special, it’s going to be invigorating and emotions are going to be pretty high.”
As for the Firebells approach to Game 5? "All gas, no breaks,” Albayati said.