Keilani Ricketts has been remarkably durable throughout her long professional career, both in the United States and Japan, so missing a month earlier this season was frustrating for her.
The veteran left-hander and former two-time USA Softball Player of the Year at Oklahoma had struggled in four of her five appearances in the first half of the season before going on the Injured List, allowing 12 earned runs in 11 innings. But perhaps the time off was just what she needed, because Ricketts gave the Blaze’s pitching staff a tremendous boost this weekend against the Volts in Seattle.
Ricketts struck out eight batters in 5 ⅓ innings across two appearances, giving up just one run and helping the Blaze take two out of three for their first series win in franchise history. After dropping Friday night’s game 11-6, the Blaze won a 3-1 pitchers’ duel on Saturday, then broke Sunday’s game wide open late in a 10-2 victory.
“Just the trust from the coaches, the trust from my defense, that was giving me a lot of strength out there and that was helping me a lot,” Ricketts said. “I’ve never really dealt with an injury… but being able to have the veterans with Anissa Urtez and Taylor Edwards, being able to have them and the support from our staff, it’s been helpful for me to (stay) motivated to get out here.”
Strong start isn’t enough in series opener
The Blaze (5-13) struck fast with four runs in the first inning Friday night, drawing three walks in the frame against Rachel Garcia and capitalizing on Ali Newland’s bases-clearing double. But the Volts (6-12) began chipping away with a single run in the second and two more in the third, then exploded for seven in the fourth.
Ciara Briggs, whom the Blaze traded to the Volts in June for McKenzie Clark, drove in her team’s first run with an RBI single. Mia Scott made it a one-run game with a two-run home run an inning later, and then the Volts were relentless in the fourth with eight hits against Emma Lemley and Aleshia Ocasio. Jessi Warren capped the massive inning with a three-run double.
The Blaze drew closer with five straight hits to start the fifth, scoring twice on Baylee Klingler’s RBI double and Kayla Kowalik’s run-scoring single. Peyton Gottshall, though, relieved Garcia in the circle and put out the fire.
Pitching staff steps up in big way Saturday
The trio of Aliyah Binford, Devyn Netz and Ricketts held the Volts to one run on five hits in Saturday’s win, a much-needed brilliant team pitching performance. Binford recorded five of her nine outs on the ground, while Netz made her Blaze debut after being traded from the Bandits for Danielle Gibson Whorton on Friday. She allowed a run on three hits but limited the damage in 1 ⅔ innings.
“Binford (was) rolling us ground balls,” second baseman Aubrey Leach said. “She had them really off-timing. And then (Ricketts) coming in to shut it down made our job on defense pretty easy.”
Ricketts entered the game with two outs in the fifth and the tying run on second, but struck out the dangerous Amanda Lorenz looking to escape. She recorded two more strikeouts in a three-up, three-down sixth, then struck out Briggs for the final out of the game.
Klingler drove in Leach with a long single for the game’s first run in the opening inning, part of an excellent weekend at the plate in her return to Husky Softball Stadium. Ana Gold extended the lead with an RBI double in the third, again scoring Leach. Clark gave the Blaze a big insurance run with a solo shot in the sixth against her former team.
“Happy for Clark. Any time you’re going to get traded, you’re going to have a little bit of a chip on your shoulder,” Blaze Head Coach Alisa Goler said. “She has been more and more relaxed as the series has gone on, and it showed in that at-bat. Any time you’re going to put up a run late in the game like that for insurance, it’s going to pop the air out of someone’s balloon.”
Gold leads way in rubber game blowout
The Blaze again handled things well with their pitching staff Sunday, splitting the game among Alana Vawter, Ricketts and Lemley. Vawter worked around a pair of walks in two scoreless innings, Ricketts struck out the side in her first inning of work in the third, and Lemley’s only blemish was a Dejah Mulipola solo blast in the seventh.
Gold hit an absolute laser beam over the left-field wall to lead off the second inning as the Blaze struck first once again. Netz’s first homer in a Blaze uniform gave them the lead for good in the fifth, and Klingler’s RBI double jump-started a five-run sixth frame. Clark put the finishing touches on that inning with a two-run homer, her second long ball of the weekend.
“Husky Stadium is like no place else,” Klingler said. “The fans are the best. It just feels good to be back. I’m right where my feet are, and I’m just enjoying every second of it.”
The Blaze kept pouring it on in the seventh, with Gold driving in two more runs on a long single off the left-center field fence. She finished the day 3-for-3 with a walk, a homer, a stolen base and four runs batted in.
They may be out of contention for a spot in the championship series, but the Blaze can still pass the Volts and avoid a last-place finish. Their work will be cut out for them as they head to Salt Lake City for a four-game series against the first-place Talons starting Wednesday evening.
“I’m definitely seeing the ball well and trying to get barrels to the ball and help my team win. It ended up working in our favor,” Gold said. “We won the series, which was huge for us. Super proud of us as a team.”
Next, the Blaze head to Salt Lake City, Utah for a four-game series against the Talons beginning July 16.
Benjamin Rosenberg is the Blaze beat reporter for the AUSL this season. He has more than seven years of experience covering college, professional and high school softball, and graduated with a degree in journalism from Northwestern University in 2021.
