Osterman’s 13 K and Willis Big Night Help Pride Beat Diamonds 11-5

Jessica Mendoza

Boxscore

USSSA Pride 11, Tennessee Diamonds 5

Daytona Beach, FL-  Megan Willis hit a Solo Homerun and a Grand Slam to top of a 3 hit 6 RBI night to help the USSSA Pride beat the Tennessee Diamonds 11-5 on Thursday night in Daytona Beach. Cat Osterman struck out 13 batters in route to her 3rd win in front of a crowd of over 1000 fans at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Entering the game, the Pride and Diamonds were both tied at the bottom of the NPF standings with records of 3-5. The win gave the Pride their 4th of the season, putting them in 3rd place in the NPF standings.

The Pride went on to record 11 runs on 11 hits, It was a 6-5 ballgame with the Pride in the lead until they used a five run seventh inning to give them a huge late lead that would car ry them to a victory.

In the top of the first the Pride would score 3 runs on 3 hits, giving them a 3-0 lead. Natasha Watley singled, and was followed up by Jessica Mendoza who also singled moving Watley into scoring position. Charlotte Morgan would come to the plate and single bringing home Watley and giving the Pride their first run of the ballgame.The second Pride run would come off a Kelly Kretschman fielders choice, bringing Mendoza in Mendoza. The third Pride run would come off a Tennessee error which would score Charlotte Morgan.

The Pride would come up in the top of the second and Megan Willis would start things off with a bang, hitting a her first home run of the game to deep center. It would be the only Pride run that inning.

It was all Pride up until the bottom of the third, where the Diamonds would throw up a five run inning thanks in part to a grand slam by Megan Gibson, which would turn out to be her only hit of the game. The Diamonds had started off the inning with 3 straight singles which would score Kristen Schnake leaving runners on second and third with one out. A costly mistake by Megan Willis behind the plate allowed Brianna Hesson to advance to first on a drop third strike. It could have been the second out of the inning, then bringing up Aja Paculba who would line out to first for the third out, but allowing Hesson to advance to first would pave the way for Megan Gibson’s Grand Slam giving them a 5-4 lead over the Pride going into the 4th inning.

The Pride would take a 6-5 lead in the 6th inning thanks to Francesca Enea’s ground rule double, and she would later score on a sacrifice fly by Megan Willis.

The top of the 7th inning would be a huge inning for the Pride. Jessica Mendoza came up with one out and hit a solo home run giving the Pride a 7-5 lead. Alissa Haber would walk, bringing up Caitlin Lowe who singled, followed by a Sam Findlay walk. Megan Willis took a 1-1 fastball  from Kelsey Dunne and deliver her second home run of the game and her first grand slam of the 2011 season, topping off her three hit, 6 RBI night.

The Pride would go on to win her game 11-5. Cat Osterman, who quietly struck out 13 batters in the contest,  would earn her third victory of the season bringing her record to 3-1. Kelsey Dunne suffered her second loss of the season, bringing her to 0-2 on the season.

The Pride will return to action at Florida International University where they will take on the Tennessee Diamonds in a 2 game series, the first pitch being at 7:05pm on Saturday evening. Come out and support your team and the NPF!

Game Notes: The Pride and Tennessee started the second game of Thursdays double header, but only managed 2 and a third innings before in was rained out. The game remains tied 3-3 in the top of the third. A make up date is TBD.

Contact: Matt O’Hara