Low-flying aircraft over Rosemont may have detected a collective exhale coming from Parkway Sports Complex on Sunday.
That breath of relief came from both the Chicago Bandits and their fans after an 11-3 run-rule victory over the Oklahoma City Spark. The game ended in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The victory was the first of the season for the Bandits, who had opened 0-4 after advancing to the Athletes Unlimited Softball League Championship Series last year.
“Winning feels good, doesn’t it, ladies?” Bandits coach Shonda Stanton said to Bandits players Tianna Bell and Jocelyn Erickson, who joined her for the postgame news conference. “Yeah, it’s nice to get in the win column. We talked yesterday about, regardless of the results, our connectivity and our togetherness. Just really proud of this group.”
Less than 24 hours earlier, the Bandits held a lengthy team meeting following a 9-1 run-rule loss to the Spark. It seemed to work.
“Gosh, we’re a good ballclub,” Stanton said. “It’s never an issue of being out-talented. It’s an issue of the human element. And what’s the human element? It can be anything from wanting to perform. It could be selfishness. It could be fear of failure. It could be pressing. You name it. Things that get in the way of winning are usually the human element. That’s why we say character drives winning.
“So it was a matter of getting together and saying, ‘Let’s get back to the little things.’ The crowd can join us. We talked a lot about two-strike toughness, both on the offensive side and the pitching side. We said, ‘Get together and come up with something.’ So they decided, ‘fist here, over the heart.’”
The Bandits’ heart and character were put to the test early Sunday. The Spark jumped out to a 2-0 first inning lead on a pair of unearned runs against Bandits starting pitcher Amber Fiser. But Fiser settled down and tossed six innings of three-hit ball while walking just one and striking out seven and throwing 111 pitches.
“Yeah, I think it just goes back to connectivity, when they don’t feel like they’re alone on an island out there and they feel like they have a team behind them,” Erickson said, sounding the theme of the day. “I tell her every pitch, ‘I’m with you. Hit me here, I’m with you.’ I think just playing together really helps us get through the hard times and soar through the good times.”
The Bandits seized the momentum for good in the bottom of the first inning, scoring four runs and chasing Spark starting pitcher Peja Goold from the game before she could retire a batter.
Most important for the Bandits, they received contributions from familiar faces and from newcomers.
Chicago’s 1-2 punch from last season, Morgan Zerkle and Erin Coffel, combined for four hits at the top of the order, with Zerkle hitting a home run in the fourth.
Bell, picked up from the reserve player pool on Saturday, hit a two-run homer in the third and added a two-run single in the six for a four-RBI game.
“It felt good,” Bell said. “Coach mentioned it earlier. This last week, I was living it up. I was done with my college career (at Arkansas), giving my body a rest. I got a text. It’s an opportunity that you just can’t miss. Being a part of something big, a first one, is huge.”
Fiser also came to the Bandits from the reserve pool. She lowered her ERA from 3.00 to 2.15.
“She was just spinning it,” Erickson said. “Maybe the wind was helping, also, moving the ball a little bit. Yeah, she was really hitting spots and throwing it wherever our pitching coach wanted it to go.”
The Spark fell to 3-2. Coach Amber Flores agreed that the first inning was key.
“Obviously going up 2-0 was exactly what we were trying to do because we were trying to snag the momentum right away from them,” Flores said. “I think that’s what teams in this league do. They don’t give in. They compete. They battle. So for them to put a four-spot up and put us in tough situation, they did a really good job of not giving in. We just have to reset and be ready to go on Tuesday and try to take a series.”
Bruce Miles has covered sports in the Chicago area for 47 years, including baseball, hockey, football and Athletes Unlimited Softball League. 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.
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