Team Klingler blanks Team Palacios 1-0 to close AUSL All-Star Cup Series 3

Series 3 of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League All-Star Cup wrapped up on Sunday night. Team Klingler took on Team Palacios and came away with a 1-0 win. Amber Fiser and Lexi Kilfoyl combined for the shutout.

Sydney Romero reached third with one out in the top of the first on an Amari Harper error in right field. Next, captain Baylee Klingler scored Romero on an RBI sacrifice fly for the 1-0 lead. That was Klingler’s sixth RBI of the All-Star Cup.

The defense has been stellar in this All-Star Cup, and Hannah Flippen continued her solid play. Flippen handled the bottom of the first inning in order with two assists and one putout. She came into Sunday leading the All-Star Cup with 15 assists and a perfect fielding percentage. Sunday night, she added four more assists and two putouts en route to claiming a captain spot for Series 4.

Both Brown and Fiser recorded strikeouts in the second inning. In the bottom of the second, Fiser gave up a leadoff walk and a one-out single but recorded three strikeouts in the inning. Fiser hit the corners well and changed speed to leave two runners stranded.

Then in the top of the fourth, Team Klingler worked their way to a couple of two-out baserunners as Reese Atwood walked and Jadelyn Allchin singled. But Brown stranded both and also picked up another strikeout in the inning.

Kilfoyl took the ball in the bottom half for Team Klingler. Fiser (MVP 2) finished her outing with 3.0 innings of one-hit ball with three strikeouts to one walk. Captain Sharlize Palacios led off with a single for her team’s second hit of the game. Then, Flippen assisted in back-to-back fielder’s choice outs at second before the inning was retired.

In the top of the fifth, Brown gave up a Flippen leadoff single but had solid defense behind her. After Flippen was eliminated on a fielder’s choice, Aubrey Leach turned two on an Aleshia Ocasio pop out, then doubled off Kendra Falby at first.

Kilfoyl recorded two strikeouts in the bottom of the fifth and retired the side in order.

For Team Palacios, Brown (MVP 3) did her job in the circle. She worked through a complete game with just one unearned run, but the run support never came. The bottom of the sixth was another example. Harper reached on a leadoff hit by pitch and made her way to third but was left stranded.

In the top of the seventh, Brown faced some traffic but stranded two runners to keep the score a 1-0 ballgame. Then, Kilfoyl returned to the circle to close out the win with 4.0 innings of one-hit ball.

Kilfoyl closed it out with a nine-pitch battle against Bri Ellis that finished on a close groundout. That moved Kilfoyl (MVP 1) to No. 2 on the AUSL All-Star Cup Leaderboard. Also, Atwood took defensive MVP in Sunday night’s game. She caught a great game and recorded five putouts with one assist.

The final series of the AUSL All-Star Cup will begin on Friday night, with Team Klingler taking on Team Flippen. Game time is set for 7 p.m. EDT, 6 p.m. CDT on CBS Sports Network. Below is the top five of the AUSL All-Star Cup leaderboard heading into the final week.