With the AUSL regular season rolling on, the standings are taking shape for playoff contention. The Carolina Blaze entered Salt Lake City, Utah, to face the Utah Talons in an important game. The Blaze jumped on the Talons with a four-run first inning. Then, they relied on solid pitching the rest of the way for a 4-2 win.
For the second game in a row, Reese Atwood connected for a two-run home run after Aubrey Leach reached to begin the game. Taylor Tinsley did not record an out and was pulled after a Dakota Kennedy double and Baylee Klingler single.
“We knew from the last series against them, we just wanted to be aggressive early on in counts,” Valerie Cagle said. “Tinsley hasn’t thrown a ton this year, and so just kind of wanted to get ahead of her. And then, obviously, when Georgina came in, we saw her for a whole game, and so it’s like, how can we continue that momentum and kind of build off the bats we had last game and improve on those as well.”
The Talons quickly went to Georgina Corrick to gain control of the game. Then with one out, Cagle recorded a two-RBI single to cap off the scoring in the inning. Corrick bounced back with two strikeouts in the inning and left the bases loaded. Carolina made it through the whole order and back to Leach in that inning.
Keilani Ricketts took the mound with a nice early lead and retired the side in order with 12 pitches, after leading with a strikeout of Jordan Woolery. Ahead in the bottom of the second, things didn’t go as smoothly for Ricketts.
After Jayda Coleman and Kailey Wyckoff reached freely, Sahvanna Jaquish loaded the bases with a one-out single. Then Coleman came home on a Hannah Flippen sacrifice fly for Utah’s first run of the game. Ricketts went on to escape the inning without further damage.
Corrick settled the game for the Talons. In the top of the third, she struck out two more to raise her total to four and retired the side in order. Corrick is the reigning AUSL Pitcher of the Year and does a great job of moving things around the zone.
Ricketts was having an effective outing, and she rolled through the bottom of the third inning and added two strikeouts to her total. Woolery had trouble seeing Ricketts and struck out for her second consecutive at-bat.
Bri Ellis ambushed Ricketts with a first-pitch leadoff double to begin the bottom of the fourth. But after making it over to third, she was left stranded. Ricketts kept working the zone and, after striking out Jaquish, retired the side with a Flippen line out.
Klingler improved her night to 3-for-3 with a one-out single in the fifth inning. However, Corrick kept mowing through the lineup and raised her strikeout total to six on the evening. This game was a good pitcher’s duel. After the initial first inning, this was a tight game, and Ricketts put together her best outing of the season yet with 4.0 innings pitched with 1 run allowed on 3 hits with 4 strikeouts.
Karlyn Pickens came in to begin the bottom of the fifth and opened with her 26th strikeout of the season. Woolery followed with a single through the middle for her first hit of the game. Pickens went on to finish the inning unharmed and wrapped it up with a strikeout of Sharlize Palacios on a 77 mph pitch.
Cagle swung the bat well and led off the sixth inning with her second hit of the game, to move to 2-for-3. Aleshia Ocasio gave Corrick a long battle and popped out on her 11th pitch. Corrick went on to strand Cagle at second, to keep the score at 4-1. Afterward, Cagle spoke about her increased confidence and opportunities.
“I think it’s everybody else, honestly, right? Because Reese comes in and gets a two-run shot right off, and that takes so much pressure off the rest of us,” Cagle said. “So, then I can just go and have a good at-bat, see the pitches I want to see and take hacks at those pitches. And I feel like, too, right now I’m seeing the ball pretty well, and that’s definitely very helpful. But yeah, just the rest of the offense has been really putting good at-bats together, and that makes it easier the longer we go.”
The Talons needed to generate some offense. It had been a quiet game with a few hits scattered, and Coleman led off the bottom of the sixth with a single to left. Pickens responded with a strikeout of Ellis. Then with two on and two outs, Flippen singled to center, but Coleman was thrown out at home by McKenzie Clark to end the inning.
Corrick did a marvelous job in her long relief outing that was just four batters off from a start. She finished her outing with her seventh strikeout of the night. She finished with 7.0 innings pitched, 4 hits, 7 strikeouts and 2 walks on 111 pitches.
Utah didn’t go down easy. Andrews led off the bottom of the seventh with a triple. A Woolery RBI groundout brought her home to cut the Blaze lead to 4-2. Allchin, who had a tough night, fought for a nine-pitch single. But Pickens finished the deal and Carolina picked up the opening win in Utah.
The pitching jobs that Ricketts and Pickens put together were just as huge as the four-run first inning. Going back and forth with Corrick and keeping the Talons offense minimized, was huge.
“They both threw great games, and what our staff does really well is they can complement each other,” Dill said. “So Keilani can throw what Keilani throws. She doesn’t have to be anybody different, and she’s really stacked some good appearances here in the last four or five outings she’s had. We felt really confident with her starting again, hasn’t started for a couple series now.
“Did a great job for us, and then that sets up Karlyn to be Karlyn. And, again, she doesn’t have to be anybody that she’s not. She can throw her stuff, and we know that they are a great complement to each other. We know the Talons are a great offense. We know they have great pitching, so it was great for us to get up early, and it takes a little bit of pressure off the rest of the game, knowing that we have two great arms on the mound.”
