After a week of roster moves, injuries, and a losing streak that reached eight games, the Blaze finally celebrated a win Monday night to conclude the first half of their inaugural season on a high note.
Sitting on just one win since they defeated the Volts on June 9, the Blaze got an outstanding pitching performance from Alana Vawter, and the bats roared to life with two big innings in an 11-3 run-rule victory over the first-place Bandits in Wichita, Kansas. Rookie Ana Gold put an early end to the proceedings with a two-run home run in the sixth, the first long ball of her professional career.
“I’m so proud of them, just because when you tune in from the outside, you’re just seeing the actual game stuff. You’re not seeing the day-to-day, the conversations, the work, the emotion, the roller coaster that they’ve been on,” Head Coach Alisa Goler said. “It was so nice to have the game go our way today. It was exactly what we needed going into the break. Watching them celebrate after the game, it just made my heart full.”
The week started with the Blaze (2-10) getting Vawter and Carley Hoover back from Japan to bolster their pitching staff, but Hoover went on the Injured List after just one appearance, so the Blaze added Hope Trautwein-Valdespino back to the roster. They also added Brooke Yanez to replace the injured Keilani Ricketts and selected Ally Shipman-Shrout — formerly of the Talons — from the Reserve Athlete Pool when catcher Taylor Edwards hit the Injured List.
Then, on Sunday, the Blaze completed the first trade in Athletes Unlimited Softball League history, acquiring McKenzie Clark from the Volts in exchange for Ciara Briggs. The move paid immediate dividends as Clark was 2-for-4 with an RBI single in that day’s 9-7 loss.
The Blaze’s best hitter to start the year, Baylee Klingler, sustained a head injury in Saturday’s 11-3 defeat and said on Instagram that she is hopeful to return when the season resumes. Shortstop Anissa Urtez left Monday’s game after grounding out to end the third inning, with Aubrey Leach moving from second base to short and pitcher Aleshia Ocasio taking over at second.
“If anything, we have proved that we are all adaptable. I give all the players who moved in and out a lot of credit. I make a point to try and tell them that, because it’s not easy,” Goler said. “They’ve been great. Everyone who we’ve brought in has been excited to be a part of it. They’ve been open immediately to wanting feedback and wanting to be part of what we’re trying to build, culture-wise, over here.”
The Bandits (9-3) opened the series with an 11-2, five-inning victory on Friday evening, scoring four runs in the third and six in the fourth. Urtez hit a two-run single to account for the only Blaze runs. Saturday’s game was out of hand even earlier as the Bandits took control with a four-run first and never looked back.
The Blaze were poised to snap their skid on Sunday, starting the first inning with five straight hits and taking a five-run lead into the fifth, but Ocasio could not keep the ball in the yard. The Bandits pulled within one on back-to-back homers by Morgan Zerkle and Skylar Wallace, then took the lead in the sixth on a three-run blast from Erin Coffel. Bubba Nickles-Camarena hit a solo shot in the seventh for good measure.
Zerkle and Wallace picked up where they left off after a long weather delay Monday, hitting back-to-back jacks again to start the game and putting the Blaze in a two-run hole after just three pitches. But Vawter relieved Trautwein-Valdespino in the second and allowed just one run on four hits over five strong innings, striking out four batters without issuing a walk. She recorded eight of her 15 outs on ground balls.
Korbe Otis hit her first professional homer to lead off the bottom of the first, and the Blaze then took the lead for good in the second on Aliyah Andrews’ two-run single. The bats went quiet in the middle innings before waking up again in the sixth, when the Blaze collected five extra-base hits. Kayla Kowalik, Otis, Leach and Danielle Gibson Whorton each hit an RBI double, setting the stage for Gold’s game-ending homer.
“My goal the past couple days has been to really try to be disciplined at the plate,” Gold said. “I get myself out when I swing at balls, so really just honing in on my plan and looking for one pitch. I did that my last two at-bats. It was just awesome. I didn’t realize it was a walk-off home run until after I hit home plate.”
The Blaze head into the international break last in the AUSL in ERA and strikeouts, and have allowed the most walks and home runs in the league. Opponents are batting .344 against the Blaze’s pitching staff, easily the highest mark of the four teams, but Vawter’s performance Monday was a critical step in the right direction.
The second half begins with a single game against the Talons in Rosemont, Illinois, on July 7, followed by two more matchups with the Bandits on July 8 and 9.
“Our team, especially our older players, have made a really, really high effort to welcome people and to make them feel like they’re a part,” Goler said. “I don’t think anyone ever feels like an outsider here. I really appreciate that they’re doing that, because that is what being a pro is.”
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.
