COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Championship play arrived at Davis Diamond, as the No. 1 Utah Talons took on the No. 2 Chicago Bandits. In a pitchers’ duel between Georgina Corrick and Lexi Kilfoyl, the Talons pulled out the 2-1 win. Sahvanna Jaquish brought across Jadelyn Allchin on an RBI sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Skylar Wallace led off the game with a single up the middle on an 0-2 pitch. After Morgan Zerkle beat out an infield single to move her to second, Jayda Coleman doubled her off on a Mac Barbara flyout to center.
Kilfoyl was in the circle for the Bandits and gave up a run early. After Allchin got on via a hit by pitch with one out, Sharlize Palacios dropped a two-out RBI single to left field to bring her in. Kilfoyl got out of the inning with a strikeout of Bri Ellis.
Corrick changed speeds and locations, keeping the Bandits guessing. With one out in the second inning, she struck out Mary Iakopo on a 58 mph changeup. She then retired the side as Taryn Kern lined out to Hannah Flippen at shortstop.
Kilfoyl responded to retire the bottom of the second in order. Caroline Jacobsen and Flippen fell victims to Kilfoyl’s offspeed for back-to-back strikeouts to retire the side. Both pitchers used the offspeed well in this game.
Chicago used its speed and small ball approach in the third. After Bella Dayton beat out an infield single, Ailana Agbayani dropped a sacrifice bunt. Then, Corrick put Wallace and Sami Williams on via hit by pitches to load the bases. That allowed Zerkle to score Dayton on a sacrifice fly to center, with Dayton beating the throw home to tie the game. A strikeout of Barbara retired the side.
For Corrick, the two hit batters were the only real blemish on her game, and she made sure they didn’t continue.
“In my mind, hitting a batter is kind of the only error that a pitcher can really make seriously,” Corrick said. “So it’s really important for me as a defensive pitcher, as someone who likes to set a tone for my team, to not allow back-to-backs.”
Kilfoyl got in a groove and, through the bottom of the third inning, retired seven batters in a row. This game showcased some of the best pitching you could see on both sides. It was like a chess match between Kilfoyl and Corrick, to see who would make enough wrong moves for the opposing offense to take advantage of.
The Bandits began the top of the fifth with more speed and small ball. Dayton beat out an infield single to lead off the inning and moved to second on an Agbayani sacrifice bunt. With two outs, Williams battled Corrick for nine pitches and went down looking on a 56 mph changeup.
Then, in the bottom half of the fifth, Flippen placed a one-out single to left field. However, back-to-back flyouts to left kept things tied at one apiece. Corrick returned to the circle in the sixth and kept dealing. Chicago couldn’t find any grass, as she retired the side in order. Corrick also recorded her fifth strikeout of the game by fanning Barbara in the inning.
Allchin jumped on with a leadoff single in the bottom of the sixth and moved over on a Jordan Woolery sacrifice bunt. Then, Palacios just missed a home run to left field on a single to put runners on the corners. The Bandits intentionally walked Ellis to load the bases. That brought Jaquish to the plate, and on an 0-2 pitch, she scored Allchin for the winning run on a sacrifice fly to center, making it 2-1 Talons.
Jaquish credited Corrick’s steadiness and a page out of the small ball playbook for the difference.
“I think the difference was the consistency on the mound pitching,” Jaquish said. “George always gives us a chance to win, and it was good old-fashioned softball, where we get ’em on, get ’em over with a bunt, and then get ’em in with a sac fly.”
Corrick returned to close out her fifth complete game of the season and retired the top of the seventh in order.
Utah head coach Cindy Ball-Malone pointed to her hitters’ patience against Kilfoyl and her ace’s finish as the story of the game.
“Two great teams on the field, grinding it out, and I just love our fight,” Ball-Malone said. “Two great pitchers in the circle. And for our hitters to just make Kilfoyl throw as many pitches as she did today, putting pressure on the defense, awesome. And then lights out from this lady here [Corrick] to my right. So proud of the Talons, and we’re excited, we’re happy, and we got one more to go.”
On the other side, Bandits head coach Shonda Stanton pointed to the fine margins of a one-run championship game.
“The margin of winning at this level is so slim, and even though we don’t have any errors in the error column, we made some defensive miscues that allowed them to be able to push the two runs across,” Stanton said.
The Talons took the 1-0 series lead and will return Sunday at 2 p.m. Eastern, 1 p.m. Central on ESPN to try to claim their second consecutive championship.
