The San Francisco Firebells kept their season alive Sunday with the kind of offensive outburst that had defined their inaugural regular season, pounding out a league-record 20 hits in a 17-4 rout of the Los Angeles Queens at Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield, Illinois. The victory evened the WPBL Championship Series and sent the league’s first title chase to a deciding Game 5 on Tuesday night.
San Francisco entered the postseason as the circuit’s heaviest-hitting club, leading the league with 142 runs, 19 homers and a 1.041 OPS. In a game it had to have, that lineup finally broke loose in full. Jill Albayati, Joely Leguizamon and Jua Park finished with four hits apiece, while Kelsie Whitmore added three as the Firebells turned a close early game into a runaway.
“We came out swinging,” Albayati said, pointing to a looser, more relaxed club over the past two days. “We’re having fun.”
Albayati gave San Francisco an early lift with a two-run single in the first inning, but the Queens answered in the second. Ayuri Shimano drew a bases-loaded walk, and Los Angeles captain Ashton Lansdell followed with a two-run single for a 3-2 lead.
That inning also ended Whitmore’s day on the mound. Firebells manager Matt Williams had used the two-way standout three days after a 90-pitch outing, and he moved her back to center field after two innings. Williams said Whitmore appeared to be working hard in the second and that the club did not want to stretch its pitching staff into an unsafe situation.
The Firebells tied it immediately when Andreanne Leblanc drove a solo home run to right, ending Shimano’s start. Los Angeles brought on Jamie Mackay, the winning pitcher from Game 1, but San Francisco’s hitters were far better prepared for the rematch.
Leguizamon’s double brought home two runs in the third, and the Firebells blew the game open an inning later. Fourteen San Francisco hitters came to the plate in the fourth, producing eight runs on eight hits. Los Angeles manager Eric Young Sr. reached for closer Meggie Meidlinger with his club down 9-4, but the late-inning arm was pressed into unfamiliar territory. Meidlinger had thrown only 10 pitches over the previous week before Sunday and allowed three runs on four hits in two-thirds of an inning, throwing nearly 30 pitches.
Meidlinger said she felt prepared regardless of the inning, adding that she did not believe the light recent workload had left her rusty.
For Albayati, the difference against Mackay was simple: San Francisco’s lineup had settled in after being held down earlier in the series. She said Mackay had been sharp in Game 1, but the Firebells had found a calmer approach and were seeing the baseball well.
A rested bullpen awaits the finale
Ela Day-Bedard gave the Firebells three effective relief innings, a valuable bridge that allowed Williams to keep Game 3 pitchers Nicki Eckert and Liz Gilder unused. On the other side, Young handed the ball to high school pitcher Addisyn Baird, who had not appeared during the regular season, as the Queens looked to get through the late innings and turn their attention toward Tuesday.
Leguizamon’s timing has been especially welcome for San Francisco. She is 8-for-14 in the Championship Series and said she had spent the season trusting that her production would return when the club needed it most.
The Queens, meanwhile, will try to recover after consecutive losses. Lansdell said Los Angeles had lost some of its concentration during a demanding stretch of nearly two weeks centered entirely on baseball. She expects the off day to help reset the club before the final game.
Tuesday’s winner-take-all contest is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. Neither manager named a starter after Game 4, though Albayati appears the likely choice for the Firebells, while the Queens could turn to Ayami Sato, the second overall selection in the draft. With a day away from the field, both bullpens should be available and every arm could factor.
Lansdell called the final game special and emotionally charged. Albayati offered the Firebells’ shorter version of the plan: all gas, no brakes.
