August 23, 2008 - The New England Riptide lost the first game of the NPF playoffs to the Chicago Bandits 4-1 on Friday night, in a game that saw all of the scoring from home runs. hRiptide will face the loser of the day's second playoff game, the Washington Glory, while the Bandits will match up with the winning Philadelphia Force.
The Riptide got on the board first with a solo home run to deep left field
by All-NPF selection Lisa Modglin, but the lead didn't last long. Chicago, who typically plays on a field with 190 foot fences, took the lead for good with a home run of their own in the bottom of the third inning.
Stacy May got things started for the Bandits in the inning with a single up
the middle to set the stage for second year player Kristie Fox. With
one out in the inning Fox drilled an Eileen Canney pitch over the left
field fence to give Chicago a 2-1 lead.
The two teams would exchange zeros on the board for the next couple of
innings before Nicole Trimboli added some insurance for the Bandits with a
two-run home run of her own. All-NPF outfielder Jaime Clark started
the inning with a swinging bunt to third bringing Trimboli to the
plate. On a called hit and run by Bandits skipper Mickey Dean,
Trimboli hit a lined shot over the centerfield fence that sent Riptide
centerfielder Gina Carbonatto through the fence.
"Coach (Dean) gave a hit and run, so I was just trying to hit the
ball hard somewhere," said Trimboli. "I was able to put a
good swing on it and fortunately it went out over the outstretched glove of
Carbo (Carbonatto)."
The offense was effective for the Bandits, but the real story of the game
was the outstanding relief appearance of right-hander Jessica
Sallinger. Sallinger came on to relieve Kristina Thorson in the third
inning and was near perfect. She allowed just one base runner, a
two-out walk to KJ Kelley in the fourth inning, to come away with the
win. On the night Sallinger faced 15 hitters, retiring 14 of them,
including the last 10 of the game.
The Riptide's game against the Force will be played at 3:00 (CST) on Saturday. Fans wishing to keep up with the game can go to www.profastpitch.com. |
