It seems the only thing that can stop the Bandits is the international break.
The Bandits breezed through Wichita like a hot-summer twister this past weekend, taking three of four games from the Blaze to finish the first half of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League season in a first-place tie with the Talons. Both teams are 9-3.
Only a run-rule loss in the series finale against the Blaze cooled off the red-hot Bandits.
“I really think our big challenge will be during that two-week break, not to lose that momentum,” said Bandits coach Stacey Nuveman Deniz. “It’s hard to sustain when you’re not together. I think that will be our task – coming back and starting off where we left off.”
The Bandits outscored the Blaze 34-23 in the weekend wraparound series. Here is how it unfolded.
Run rule redux
For the second time in the early season, the Bandits won by the run rule, topping the Blaze 11-2 in five innings.
The Bandits sent nine batters to the plate in a four-run third inning and 11 to the plate in a six-run fourth.
The grateful beneficiary was pitcher Taylor McQuillin, making her first start of the season after three relief appearances.
“It’s always nice,” she said. “I feel like our offense does a great job of putting up runs. I know we have a team 1-9 that’s going to pass the bat and put up runs. As a pitcher, it’s very easy to go out there and feel comfortable and confident that the run support is always going to be there for the most part. So it definitely makes it easier, but I also feel as pitchers it’s our role to support them on defense and make sure we’re getting outs and throwing quality pitches because they need that just as well.”
McQuillin worked three hitless and scoreless innings before giving way to Sarah Willis, who allowed two runs in two innings.
The Bandits did most of the damage in their big innings with singles and walks. Devyn Netz hit her first professional home run in the fifth.
Doubling up on double digits
For the second straight game, the Bandits scored 11 runs, this time in an 11-3 victory. Netz hit her second home run in two games, and Sydney McKinney added her second of the season.
“Honestly, just staying true to myself and staying true to my zone, not getting too big and also just not doubting myself,” Netz said. “The biggest thing is making sure I’m still being aggressive but also getting my swing off, and that is something that is super important to my game. And also just leaning on my coaches and also my teammates around me who also have really good approaches.”
Bella Dayton became the third player in the AUSL with a four-hit game.
“Bella’s a dynamic player,” said associate head coach Courtney Martinez. “She can do a lot of different things. It makes it difficult for people to play her. She will drop a bunt and then hit a double over your head. She’s pretty lethal with that. She definitely had a day today. It helped us collect a lot of runs. We’re happy about that.”
Morgan Zerkle had her fifth straight multi-hit game, with three hits. Skylar Wallace extended her hitting streak to nine games. The Bandits had a season-high 13 hits and their seventh straight game with 10 or more hits. Ten of the 11 runs came with two outs. They were 8-for-15 in two-out situations.
Starting pitcher Lexi Kilfoyl worked three innings and gave up six hits and two runs. Odicci Alexander picked up the win with 3 innings of one-hit shutout ball in relief.
They can rally for wins, too
The Bandits took a 1-0 lead on the Blaze in the top of the first inning of Game 3 on Sunday, but the Blaze batted around in the first inning and looked to be on their way after scoring five runs.
But as teams in the AUSL are finding out, these Bandits never back down, and they’re never out of any game.
Zerkle hit a three-run homer in the top of the fifth. Wallace followed with her first homer of the season. In the sixth, Erin Coffel hit a three-run homer, and for good measure, Bubba Nickles-Camarena added a solo shot in the seventh.
Coffel did not play on Saturday, and she came off the bench in Sunday’s game.
“I was just trying to make it feel like another at-bat, just to make it feel as normal as possible, to make myself feel as comfortable as possible,” Coffel said. “I wasn’t trying to do too much or put too much pressure on myself. I have teammates who do a great job of doing the exact same thing, so it’s really easy to play behind them.
“We always say, whenever we get down, we never feel sorry for ourselves. It’s like, keep chipping away, every single at-bat. Every single person on our team can get the job done. We fully all trust each other and ourselves and have confidence that every single person throughout our lineup can get the job done.”
Pitcher Emiley Kennedy may have been the unsung hero of the game. She came on in relief of Sarah Willis in the first inning and ate up 4.2 innings, giving up five hits and two runs. Taylor McQuillin picked up the win in relief.
“Big time,” Nuveman Deniz said of Kennedy’s performance. “I think if you take away those crazy wind-aided hits – there were three of them because the ball got crazy – her outing would have been even more impressive. She gave up five hits, but I think only two of them were actual hits.”
The Bandits had 13 hits, marking their eighth straight game with double-digit hits.
A hiccup to end the first half
The Bandits jumped ahead quickly in Monday night’s game, which was delayed nearly three hours by rain. They wound up on the receiving end of a run-rule loss, falling 11-3 in six innings, with the final blow being a two-run homer by the Blaze’s Ana Gold.
Zerkle hit the first pitch of the game for a home run to center field. It was her fifth of the season. Wallace made it back-to-back homers with her second in two games.
The Blaze answered with one in the bottom of the first inning and four more in the second. Starting pitcher Netz was charged with all of the runs before being replaced by Kilfoyl.
The Bandits and AUSL are back in action on July 7 following the international break. They open the second half against the Volts in Rosemont, Illinois.
Bruce Miles has covered sports in the Chicago area for 46 years, including baseball, hockey, football and Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball. He covered the Chicago Cubs in their historic run to the World Series title in 2016. He has written stories for Athletes Unlimited since 2020.
Follow Bruce on Bluesky @brucemiles2112.bsky.social and on X @brucemiles2112
