Pride stops Finch, Bandits
The Florida Pride's highly touted rookie pitcher got the better of the Chicago Bandits' distinguished veteran on Thursday as the Pride prevailed 2-0 in Round Rock, Texas.
Canadian rookie Danielle Lawrie (5-2) allowed 2 hits, 2 walks and struck out six in a complete-game effort for the Pride.
The Bandits' Jennie Finch (5-2) gave up 5 hits with no walks and 4 strikeouts.
The Pride scored both its runs in the top of the fifth, one on an interference call with a baserunner, and the other on a two-out single from Kelly Kretschman.
Fielders 11, Flyers 3: The Lake County Fielders exploded for 6 runs in the fifth inning and went on to defeat the Schaumburg Flyers in Northern League action at Alexian Field.
The Fielders got on the board first in the third inning. With one out, Guillermo Martinez doubled. Amos Ramon, Josh Short and Brian McFall followed with 3 straight singles to make the score 2-0.
In the fifth, Ramon and Short hit back-to-back singles. McFall knocked in Ramon with an RBI double. After Adam Hale walked, Anthony Esquer delivered a 2-run single. Hale scored on a wild pitch, Esquer came across on Jeff Dunbar's RBI groundout and Kyle Higgins, the ninth batter of the inning, hit an RBI double to score Cody Strait with the sixth run of the inning.
In the sixth, Short hit his league-leading 25th home run of the season, a 2-run blast that scored Ramon. Short added another RBI in the eighth when he knocked in Martinez with a single.
Short tied a season high with 4 hits in 5 at-bats. He drove in 4 runs and scored a pair. The Fielders' first four hitters - Martinez, Ramon, Short and McFall - combined to go 12-for-19 and scored 8 runs.
Garry Bakker (4-7) allowed Mario Delgado's 2-run homer in 6 innings, giving up 5 hits with 7 strikeouts to earn the win over the Flyers.
Kernels 8, Cougars 3: Visiting Kane County jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but the Cedar Rapids Kernels roared back for a victory at Veterans Stadium that snapped the Cougars' four-game winning streak.
The Cougars' Conner Crumbliss walked to lead off the game, later took third on an error and scored on a wild pitch.
In the third, the Cougars' Anthony Aliotti ripped a 2-run double to that drove home Jose Crisotomo and Crumbliss and made it 3-0. But the Cougars left the bases loaded in that inning and also in the fifth and never scored again.
Cougars starter Jonathan Joseph balked home a run in the third and gave up 2 unearned runs in the fifth. He allowed 1 earned run on 6 hits in 42/3 innings and got a no-decision. Connor Hoehn (6-4) took the loss.