Ocasio’s walk-off single caps Blaze comeback over Volts

Monday night brought game two between the Carolina Blaze and the Texas Volts to close the two-game set. The Blaze battled and came from behind to take a 6-5 win in nine innings. Aleshia Ocasio hit the walk-off two-RBI single off Rachel Garcia for the win.

 ”I stayed the course,” Ocasio said afterward. “I feel like I saw Rachel really well today, so I just tried to find something in the zone that I could handle. And I just wanted to hit it hard and it worked out in my favor.”

Karlyn Pickens came on in relief in the seventh inning and went the rest of the way to pick up her third win of the season.

Ocasio also got the start in the circle, and things opened well. She retired the first inning in order, with two strikeouts of Aminah Vega and Jaydyn Goodwin.

Carolina immediately threatened the Volts in the bottom of the first. Aubrey Leach reached on a leadoff walk. Then, she made it all the way to third on a wild pitch while stealing second base. Then, with one out, Dakota Kennedy brought Leach home with an RBI single through to right field to take a 1-0 lead.

Aliyah Binford led off the second with a double off the right-field wall, but wiped herself out on the next play as she was caught on a 6-3-5 double play on a Tiare Jennings groundout. That was a solid defensive play and a dart of a throw by Devyn Netz to get Binford at third. Ocasio retired the side with her third strikeout of the game.

Ahead in the third inning, the Volts responded with Sierra Romero’s first hit of the season for a two-run home run to left field. Leighann Goode led off with a double, and with one out, Romero cashed in to take the 2-1 lead.

Ocasio’s outing came to a halt after Rylie Boone and Vega each singled to put two on. Keilani Ricketts entered the game and got out of the inning without further damage.

Garcia survived the third inning after recording two outs. Reese Atwood pushed a two-out single through to right, and on a Kayla Kowalik double, she attempted to come all the way home. That ended in an inning-ending out, as Boone fired to Goode, who got it home with Jordyn Rudd-Lee applying the tag.

Rudd-Lee then did damage in the batter’s box with a two-out RBI single in the top of the fourth to increase the Volts’ lead to 3-1. Danieca Coffey jumped on before with a one-out double.

Garcia began the bottom of the fourth and turned it over to Binford with two on and two outs. Garcia put Netz on via a hit by pitch, struck out Jenna Laird and walked Ocasio before exiting.

Leach worked a seven-pitch walk to load the bases, but left them all on with a Gold popout to second. The Blaze to that point had left seven runners on base.

Ricketts found herself in trouble as she started the fifth inning with a single given up to Boone and a hit batter in Goodwin to put two on. The Volts would get runners on the corners with one out, but came up empty. Ricketts retired the side by fielding a groundout from Binford and fanning Tiare Jennings looking.

That was a big sequence for Ricketts and the Blaze to hold things where they were. Kennedy then led off the fifth with a single to right to move to 2-for-3 on the night. Then, Atwood singled to put two on with no outs, also moving to 2-for-3. That pushed Binford from the game for Jessica Mullins.

After back-to-back outs and Kennedy moving to third, the Blaze were in another spot to cut into the Volts’ lead. However, Mullins struck out Valerie Cagle to escape the jam. Mullins came up big after entering the game amid damage and used just 10 pitches.

Emma Lemley took the ball for Carolina to begin the sixth, and Coffey worked out a single for her second hit of the game. Texas made Lemley work on the mound and put together disciplined at-bats. With one out, Rudd-Lee reached on a walk to put two on, but Lemley and the Blaze were able to get out of the jam cleanly after 28 pitches.

Carolina did damage with two outs in the bottom of the sixth. After Brito reached with a leadoff walk, Mullins responded with a strikeout. Then, after Leach reached on a fielder’s choice, Ana Gold evened the game with a two-run shot to make it 3-3. Gold had in her mind what was coming.

 ”I had the changeup in the back of my mind,” Gold said. “I knew she threw it to me yesterday, got me to strike out on it. I was just looking at trying to hit the ball hard to the middle of the field and able to keep my hands back and stay through.”

Then, Kennedy recorded her third hit of the game to keep things going. Kennedy is having a great week, and looks poised with veteran-like at bats.

“When you talk to her, she keeps it very simple, and I think that’s what makes her so successful,” Blaze head coach Kara Dill said about Kennedy. “She doesn’t ever let one pitch get her too high or too low. And she takes a swing at something, she just moves on to the next pitch, very quickly. She doesn’t complicate anything, and I think that is such a rare skill set to have in our game.”

Texas went back to Garcia in the circle. Things quickly changed, and Carolina had all the momentum. Garcia issued a walk to Atwood, but got out of the inning on a Kowalik flyout.

Karlyn Pickens came on in the seventh with an opportunity to pick up the win, and she was big. After Goodwin reached on an error, Pickens retired the side with two strikeouts. 

In the bottom half, Netz reached on a leadoff walk, with Karli Spaid coming on to pinch-run. Then, with one out, Brito reached on a fielding error to put two on. Ocasio put together a veteran at-bat and worked a seven-pitch walk to load the bases to bring Leach to the plate.

Leach battled and flied out to center, but it wasn’t deep enough for a sacrifice fly opportunity. That brought up Gold for a chance at the walk-off, but after a battle, her at-bat ended in a groundout to take the game to the eighth inning.

The AUSL places a runner on second to begin extra innings, and Jennings took that spot to start the eighth. After a Coffey groundout, Pickens issued two freebies with a Goode walk and a hit batter in Rudd-Lee. That loaded the bases, with Jackie Lis coming to the plate. Lis reached on a fielder’s choice with Pickens fielding and tagging Jennings out coming home.

Then, with a chance to get out of the jam, Boone worked an RBI walk to bring Goode home for the 4-3 Volts’ lead. Pickens got out of the inning with a strikeout of Goodwin. Gold was placed on second to begin the bottom of the eighth, with Kennedy up to bat.

Kennedy battled back from a 0-2 count to take four consecutive balls. Then, Texas came up with a huge double play, with Atwood reaching on a fielder’s choice. The Volts got the force out at third (Gold) and second (Kennedy) to bring up Kowalik. Garcia intentionally walked Kowalik to the surprise of some to put two on.

That brought up Netz, and she capitalized on an RBI double to bring Atwood home for the tie. The hit went to review as the ball bounced over third base and landed in foul territory, but it stood. Laird had a shot to end it with a swing, but Garcia got out of the inning alive with a strikeout.

Pickens stayed in the game for the ninth inning, and Texas placed Goodwin on second. Goodwin came around to score on two wild pitches to take the 5-4 lead. With one out, Coffey lined into a double play, with Gold making a fantastic play.

 ”I think at third base, especially with the lefty, quick lefties up, you got to be ready for anything,” Gold said. “So you’re starting low and it’s all about reaction. You know, getting your glove there as quick as you can.”

Laird began the bottom of the ninth on second, and Brito quickly moved her over to third with a leadoff single. Brito moved to second on a passed ball with Ocasio at bat. Then Ocasio came up with the game-winning two-RBI single to take the 6-5 win. This finish could be a huge one for the Blaze’s mindset throughout the season.

 ”I think it gives us a lot of confidence moving forward,” Ocasio said. “I think we’ve already had that confidence in the back pocket. But a game like today where we had to battle and exchange leads multiple times, where they came out in front and then we had to come out from behind, I think it gives us a lot of confidence.”

Carolina improved to 4-1 on the season, and will take their first road trip to Chicago to face the Bandits beginning Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. EDT at The Stadium at Parkway Bank Sports Complex. The game will be televised on the CBS Sports Network.