COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Game 2 of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League Championship Series will take place at Davis Diamond at 2 p.m. Eastern, 1 p.m. Central on ESPN. The Bandits will face Montana Fouts, who pitched a complete game with 10 strikeouts against Chicago on Saturday, July 18.
That day, the Bandits snuck away with a 2-1 win, after the game went into the eighth inning scoreless. Lexi Kilfoyl was on the mound that day for the Bandits and counterpunched Fouts the whole game for the win. However, in the coming championship series matchup, it will be Kat Sandercock who will take the ball for the Bandits.
Sandercock comes in after pitching 4.0 innings with 3 runs given up on 5 hits in the Bandits’ marathon win Thursday night against the Portland Cascade. Utah got the win over Chicago on Sunday, July 19, and that day Sandercock took the loss after the Talons pushed across 3 runs with 1 earned over 6.2 innings. Utah used selfless small ball to build that day’s results, and continued that in Saturday’s Game 1 win at Davis Diamond.
My keys to the game are simple. First, for the Chicago Bandits, they have to attack Fouts. She is the AUSL Pitcher of the Year, but teams have found ways at times to get to her for runs. The Bandits are the best-hitting team in the league, and that’s for a reason.
Sunday is an elimination game for them, which means on the defensive side, they can’t give the Talons extra life with errors and miscues. Prior to Saturday’s errorless game, the Bandits accrued 8 errors over the previous two games. The Talons need no extra help.
Stanton made clear postgame that Chicago’s answer has to start with urgency.
“We gotta grab the energy. We gotta grab the momentum. We don’t ride the wave,” Stanton said. “I don’t feel like we have pedal to the metal, get after it, go win a ball game, grit, grind it out.”
For the Talons, if Montana Fouts can give a lights-out game in the circle, the offense has to deliver. Ball-Malone was disappointed for Fouts in her last outing against the Bandits. If they are able to receive that type of performance on Sunday, Utah should come away with its back-to-back AUSL championships.
Ball-Malone, though, likes where her group’s mindset sits after a season of tight games.
“I feel like we’ve been in a lot of these similar games, and we didn’t lose a lot this year, but when we did, it just came down to one inch or maybe just one pitch,” Ball-Malone said. “And we believe that we’ve been in all those moments, and we know we’re gonna come out on top.”
Play free. The Talons have the upper hand with a 1-0 series lead. They can’t fall into a tight mentality and allow the Bandits to build momentum. They don’t want an if-necessary situation. So, coming out and taking care of business avoids that.
Jaquish expects the series to hinge on the same intangibles.
“I think it’s definitely gonna come down to belief and grit and all of those intangible things, the love of the game,” Jaquish said. “At this point both teams are amazing. Both teams have the talent to win, but it’s gonna be that extra edge that’s gonna put us on top.”
