McKinney, Texas, Friday, June 19, 2015 – The Dallas Charge rallied to win the rubber match of a three game set in extra innings Friday night against the Pennsylvania Rebellion 6-5. After two tough nights at the plate, the Charge offense finally got on track Friday night, exhausting three Rebellion pitchers throughout the entirety of the game. Fighting back from a three-run deficit the Blue and Green pushed the contest into extra innings before winning in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the ninth. The win was the Charge’s second consecutive in extra innings and in walk-off fashion.
It did not take long for the Charge to put runs on the board. In the bottom of the first Taylor Thom blasted a 2-run homerun over the fence scoring Eri Yamada. Yamada reached on a single and stole second just prior to the Thom jolt, her second of the season.
The Rebellion answered back in the second, scoring four. Alexa Peterson hit a lead-off double to centerfield just over the outstretched arms of Mikey Kenney. Haruna Sakamoto lined a single down the first base line to advance Peterson. Ogle knocked in the Rebellion’s first run when Renada Davis unsuccessfully tried to throw out the runner at home. Brittney Lindley blooped a base hit to right field scoring Sakamoto, tying the game at two. With two outs, Yuri Masuyama tripled to right scoring Lindley and Ogle giving the Rebellion a 4-2 lead. The hit signaled a pitching change for the Charge. Lauren Haeger came in in relief of Vanessa Stokes.
In the third inning, Sakamoto hit a two-out solo homerun into the water beyond the leftfield fence putting the Rebellion up 5-2.
In the bottom of the inning, the Charge would threaten. A Yamada single to right field and a Nadia Taylor one-out single prompted the Rebellion to bring in pitcher Allyson Fournier in relief of Dagmar Bloeming. Fournier stopped the Charge advance, keeping the Rebellion lead at three.
Haeger would stymie the Rebellion the rest of the way, periodically getting in a tight spots, bending, but never breaking.
In the fourth the Charge would finally getting the stampede going in the right direction and begin to rally. Cherry hit a one out single to right field setting Angeline “Q” Quiocho up for a 2-run homerun into the left field stands making the score 4-5. Davis walked leading to a Rebellion Emily Weiman coming into replace Fournier in the circle. The Rebellion’s third pitcher of the night stopped the bleeding.
In the sixth Cherry delivered her third hit of the night and it was a big one. She drilled a game tying lead-off solo homerun over the right centerfield fence brining the Charge all the way back.
The seventh inning would prove to be a six-batter inning with both teams going 3 up, 3 down and the home fans would get to enjoy some free softball.
Neither team would score in the eighth inning, but in the bottom of nine, after a Quiocho lead-off single followed by a one-out intentional walk to Yamada a wild pitch advanced the winning run to third. Taylor smoked a line drive walk-off single passed the Rebellion shortstop to score Quiocho securing the series win for the Charge. “As a team, we’ve been talking about needing to sit on the change up, so I wanted to be more disciplined and I wanted to stick with that approach. I got that pitch and I was just able to shoot it up the middle,” said Nadia Taylor after her walk-off single that ended the game for the 6-5 Charge victory in the ninth.
Brianna Cherry was the Charge Player of the Game. She went 3-for-4. Cherry hit a double, a homerun, scored twice and drove in a run. After first mentioning that she has had a few struggles the previous few weeks, Cherry said “these past couple of days I’ve just been thinking: see the ball, hit the ball. That’s what everyone’s been telling me. That’s what I attribute my success to.”
The Charge will take it on the road as they face the Chicago Bandits in Illinois on Sunday with the first pitch set for 3:05 p.m. CT. You can find live stats at www.dallascharge.com if you are unable to make it to the game.
Box score
About Dallas Charge
The Dallas Charge will begin competition in the National Pro Fastpitch league in 2015. The Charge will provide elite softball players the opportunity to pursue a professional career and inspire the next generation of professionals. Located in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, the Charge organization and its players are committed to demonstrating leadership in community involvement, entertainment, and professionalism. Follow the Dallas Charge at www.dallascharge.com
About National Pro Fastpitch
National Pro Fastpitch is headquarted in Nashville, TN. The league, created to give elite female fastpitch players the opportunity to pursue a professional career in their chosen sport has operated since 1997 under the name of Women’s Pro Fastpitch (WPF) and Women’s Pro Softball League (WPSL). NPF is the Official Development Partner of Major League Baseball in the category of women’s fastpitch softball since 2002.