DURHAM, N.C. – Saturday brought the series finale between the Utah Talons and Carolina Blaze at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The Talons could not pull off the sweep, as the Blaze salvaged the series with a 6-1 win that saw the Blaze hit three home runs on the day.
This series saw a lot of good pitching and defense on both sides. Today, the Blaze continued that and also turned in a complementary day. Carolina’s Aleshia Ocasio began the day and retired the opening side of the game in order.
Megan Faraimo took the start for the Talons, and Dakota Kennedy put the Blaze on the board with a one-out solo home run to left, her second of the season. That was the first home run of the series for either team. Kennedy came into the day slashing .333/.400/.481.
Afterward, Kennedy spoke on her approach in Saturday’s game in comparison to the previous two games.
“I think just being on time, that was my main goal today,” Kennedy said. “That’s what I worked on during BP, and I felt really good after my last at-bat yesterday. Even though I got out, I had finally gotten on time for a pitch, so just continuing to stay where I was, and just getting pitches that I want to hit. I think that’s what made the difference.”
Sarah Gordon remained hot in this series and jumped on a 0-1 pitch for a two-out single in the top of the second. That was her fifth hit of the series. Ocasio and the Blaze left her stranded at first to retire the side.
Jenna Laird, who’s had a bit of a slow start to the season, led off the bottom of the second with a single. Carolina looked dialed in at the plate, and their approach improved sharply from the first two games. Laird was aggressive on Saturday, and that made a huge difference.
“At the beginning of the season, I would take my first pitch like normal,” Laird said. “I would get into pitcher’s counts and not hitter’s counts. So once you’re there, it’s tough at this league, at this level. But it feels great. Anything that falls, I’m very grateful for right now.”
Ana Gold battled and recorded an RBI triple on a nine-pitch at-bat. Then, Valerie Cagle launched a solo home run, her first of the season, to left to extend the Blaze’s lead to 4-0. Talons associate head coach Jo Koons said plainly of Saturday’s difference at the plate for Carolina.
“I think they just hit pitches that were over the plate,” Koons said. “I think we got away with it a little bit the last couple of days, and they took advantage of it this game.”
Utah moved to Dallas Escobedo Magee in the circle, with one out in the bottom of the second, and she retired the side with no further damage.
“I think it was just an uncharacteristic start from Faraimo,” Koons said. “That was not normal for her. So they kind of got some momentum early, and we take advantage of that going forward. And I think they were just seeing the ball well.”
Caroline Jacobsen cut into the Blaze lead with a leadoff solo home run to left-center field in the top of the third to make it 4-1. Ocasio and the Blaze retired the side in consecutive outs after that. Escobedo Magee settled the game for the Talons and retired the bottom of the third in order, with a strikeout of Kennedy. Escobedo Magee allowed only a Laird single in the bottom of the fourth.
Ocasio (4.0 IP, R, 3 H, 50 total pitches) worked through the fourth inning and gave up a single to Kailey Wyckoff before retiring the side. That was all for Ocasio’s day, with Keilani Ricketts taking the ball to begin the fifth. Ricketts had a shutdown inning that began with a strikeout of Rachel Becker.
The only difference Saturday was the run support. Carolina added on in the bottom of the fifth. After back-to-back one-out singles from Aubrey Leach and Kennedy, Reese Atwood connected for an RBI single to make it 5-1.
Kara Dill spoke on the total body of work this pitching staff put together this series. Also, the job Atwood has done behind the dish deserves a lot of credit.
“I think it’s similar to our offense,” Dill said. “We have had it in there. We’ve known it’s been in there. So to see that and to see them perform, and all of them perform really well with what they’re good at, man, that’s a tough step to prepare for when you’re having to face six different arms who can do completely different things. And a lot of credit to our catchers too, who have to catch all six of them and all the different things. But Reese did a great job in the series for us. It’s great.”
Karlyn Pickens took the circle to begin the sixth inning and started with her 23rd strikeout of the season. With two outs, Wyckoff reached on an error and advanced on a wild pitch but was left stranded.
Carolina had a fantastic day at the plate. Devyn Netz launched a one-out solo home run in the bottom of the sixth, her second of the season, to make it 6-1. Carolina totaled three home runs in this game and finished the day hitting .333 and averaged .444 in advancement opportunities.
Pickens returned for the seventh, struck out Sahvanna Jaquish to begin the inning and closed the door after Gordon reached on a one-out single.
The Blaze will now head out on a long road trip. With today’s all-around team win and this series’ great work from the pitching staff, Carolina has plenty to build on.
“I think this is definitely a win that our team needed, just to remind us of who we are,” Dill said. “It’s not always about the outcome, but, man, it just feels a whole lot better when you win. I think those last couple games were just tough all the way around. We saw some bright spots out of our pitching staff, I think all weekend long. That’s definitely some momentum we could take.
“We have six solid arms. I know Devyn didn’t get in this series, but we have six arms that we can rely on against these tough offenses. And then offensively, we’ve had it in there, just the opportunity to showcase that a little bit more today. So on both sides of the game, just being able to take that momentum on this long stretch is going to be great for us.”
