Here, the leaderboard sees three of the top five spots rookies hold as the action progresses in the 2024 Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball Championship Season. Many favorites that could win it all by the season’s end as the action is halfway. That being said, here is a recap of Games Seventeen and Eighteen of the Championship Season.
Game Seventeen: Timely Offense in This AU Pro Softball Game
Photo Credit: Jade Hewitt/Athletes Unlimited
In this game, Team Palacios, led by rookie Sashel Palacios, faced Team McQuillin, led by veteran pitcher Taylor McQuillin. Palacios and Team Purple led off the scoring via a stolen base by Aubrey Leach in the top of the first. Yet, McQuillin and Team Blue responded in the bottom of the third with an RBI double by Bubba Nickles to tie the game at 1-1.
Following three consecutive innings (fourth to sixth) without a run, Palacios changed that with one swing of the bat. The captain slammed a two-run homer to left field in the top of the seventh, giving her team a 3-1 lead.
Leach gets under the tag to get the steal home!
— AU Pro Softball (@auprosoftball) August 11, 2024
Team Palacios leads 1-0 heading into the bottom of the 3rd#AUProSB x 📺 Bally Sports pic.twitter.com/QiTG7406LE
In the end, Team McQuillin would end the inning scoreless thanks to rookie right-hander Valerie Cagle getting her first save this season for Team Palacios. The win keeps Palacios undefeated entering their final game of Week Three.
Palacios would take home MVP 1 honors as teammate Megan Faraimo won MVP 2 honors for her effort in the circle. Faraimo picked her second win of the Championship Season. She went three-and-two-thirds innings as she allowed two hits and struck out two. Also, Nickles won MVP 3 honors despite the loss for Team McQuillin, who are currently 0-2 in the week.
Game Eighteen: This Softball Game Needed Some Extra Action
Photo Credit: Jade Hewitt/Athletes Unlimited
All in all, Team Kilfoyl, led by rookie pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl, and Team Lorenz, led by veteran Amanda Lorenz, needed a win. Both teams entered the game with one win each and looking to avoid going 1-2. To start, Baylee Klingler drove in a run for Team Kilfoyl and Team Orange in the top of the first. Similar to Game Seventeen, there was a scoring drought. In this case, innings three to six were scoreless.
At the bottom of the seventh, Lorenz and Team Gold tied it up as Megan Wiggins scored on a passed ball. This meant extra innings for the second time this season and the seventh occurrence in the history of the Athletes Unlimited Championship Season.
The eighth inning saw Klingler hit an RBI double and score on a throwing error. As a result, Kilfoyl’s squad took a 3-1 lead. Delanie Wisz scored McKenzie Clark on a single to make it a 3-2 game, but that would be the final score.
"gimme my money 💰"
— AU Pro Softball (@auprosoftball) August 12, 2024
orange win to end the night!#AUProSB pic.twitter.com/EmnKoRSXJP
Klingler’s two-RBI performance won her MVP 1 as pitcher Payton Gottshall took home MVP 2. Gottshall allowed four hits with three strikeouts in three-and-two-thirds innings in the circle. Sydney McKinney and her two-hit game garnered MVP 3 as teammate Taylor Edwards won Defensive MVP.
Leaderboard Update
As previously mentioned, three rookies sit atop the leaderboard at this point. Palacios (946) trails Lorenz (960) by 14 points, as she has a season-leading 720 win points and 120 MVP points. Kilfoyl (902) sits behind Palacios in the third position with her impressive 282 stat points. Lastly, Skylar Wallace is at the No. 5 spot with 840 points and 10 points behind Tori Vidales for the fourth spot.
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