2026-09-19 – Championship Game 3: SF @ LA

Facing elimination in Game 3 of the WPBL Championship, the “visiting” SF Firebells jumped out to an early 7-0 lead and held on for a 10-5 final to force a Game 4 matinee contest on Sunday. By the end of the night, only 3 of the Firebells’ 17 hits went for extra bases but every player in the lineup had either scored at least one run or collected an RBI.

The Firebells scored two runs on the first six pitches from Queens starter Michelle Roche. Firebells leadoff hitter Amanda Gianelloni doubled to left on the third pitch. Kelsie Whitmore let one pitch go by and then singled up the middle on Roche’s second offering. Gianelloni sped around third and was waved home, sliding in well ahead of the throw (apparently Gianelloni feels uncomfortable playing without dirt on her uniform). Whitmore took second on the throw in to the plate. Skylar Kaplan didn’t wait around, flicking Roche’s first pitch down the left field line. Whitmore got on her horse and ran home so fast that relay Ashton Lansdell didn’t even have a play at the plate.

Andreanne Leblanc popped out to second, and Jill Albayati flew out to center, but the Firebells were not done. Alexia Jorge continued to be a ball magnet and got aboard with a hit by pitch, moving Kaplan to second. Samantha Gutierrez singled Kaplan home. Eighth batter Jua Park grounded to third but the Firebells dugout was fired up with the score 3-0 in their favor.

Firebells starter Nikki Eckert walked Queens leadoff hitter Ayuri Shimano, who stole second during Ashton Lansdell’s at-bat. When Lansdell grounded back to the mound, Shimano advanced to third with only one out. Eckert struck out the dangerous Jamie Mackay. Caitlin Eynon made a loud out all the way to the right field wall leaving Shimano stranded at third.

The second started with Joely Leguizamon ripping a solo homer to left. The top of the Firebells’ batting order stayed hot with consecutive singles from Gianelloni, Whitmore, and Kaplan loading the bases. Leblanc singled to score Gianelloni and Whitmore. Albayati followed with a single to score Kaplan. The Queens nearly had an around the horn triple play off a slow grounder to third from Jorge, but Jorge hustled down the line to reach on the double-play fielder’s choice. Gutierrez grounded to short to end the frame with the Firebells up 7-0.

Eckert scattered a couple of hits in the bottom of the second but got out of the inning by striking out Mo’ne Davis with runners on the corners. In the top of the third, Leguizamon followed up her homer with a ringing double but was left stranded on third when Kaplan grounded out to end the inning.

In the bottom of the third, Eckert again issued a leadoff walk to Shimano. Going to her knees, Firebells 2B Amanda Gianelloni caught a sinking liner from Lansdell but Gianelloni’s throw to first to double off Shimano scooted between Shimano’s legs and into the Firebells’ dugout. Shimano was awarded second, but that didn’t matter when Jamie Mackay ripped Eckert’s first offering all the way to the scoreboard in left for the two-run shot. Eynon grounded to third and Edwards flew out to center, but the Queens were on the board. 7-2 Firebells.

The Firebells answered back immediately against Queens reliever Isabella Villareal. Leblanc walked, Albayati singled, and Jorge burnished her ongoing hit by pitch story to load the bases. Gutierrez hit a sinking liner to short right that Amira Hondras managed to scoop up just above the turf. Unfortunately, Jorge didn’t realize the ball had been caught and motored to second where she and Albayati shared a moment of surprise before Jorge was doubled off by an equally mystified Queens defense. The base running error could have been a back-breaker for the Firebells’ momentum, but Jua Park picked up her teammates with a two RBI single. Villareal struck out Leguizamon to end the frame with the Firebells once again up by seven runs, 9-2.

In the Queens half of the fourth Maggie Foxx smashed a ball into the left field gap. As Foxx was motoring around first, Whitmore pounced on the ball and heaved the ball to Gianelloni at 2B. Gianelloni jumped at Foxx sliding into second and got the out despite a heads-up hook slide from Foxx. Eckert finished the frame with a line out to short from Isabella Villareal, a single from Amira Hondras, and a groundout to second off the bat of Mo’ne Davis.

The Firebells got two runners on in the fifth with two out singles from Kaplan and Leblanc, but Albayati flew out to right, stranding both base runners.

The Firebells got themselves into trouble in the bottom of the fifth. Reliever Liz Gilder walked Shimano and Lansdell to open the inning, but came back to strike out Mackay on three pitches for the first out. The Queens executed a double steal on the first pitch of Eynon’s at-bat and Shimano scored when Eynon singled on the next pitch. Gilder then gave up a walk to Edwards to load the bases with only one out.

Foxx hit a slow bouncer to deep short and the Firebells got the out at second. Gianelloni’s ill-advised throw to first went wild allowing both Lansdell and Eynon to score. Villareal singled and Hondras got plunked to load the bases for defensive replacement Diana Ibarra, hitting in the nine hole in place of Mo’ne Davis. After Andreanne Leblanc missed a foul pop-up from Ibarra, Gilder decided to take matters into her own hands, getting Ibarra to pop up in front of the mound. Nine batters for the Queens but the rally died with the tying run at the plate. 9-5 Firebells.

Jorge led off the sixth with a painless trip to 1B on a walk from Villareal. Gutierrez and Park followed with singles to load the bases. Leguizamon fouled out to first, but Gianelloni got the ball out to left for a sac fly scoring Jorge. Whitmore popped out to short, but the Firebells were now up 10-5.

The insurance run loomed large when Gilder had to work out of trouble again in the sixth. Shimano struck out and Lansdell singled. Mackay hit a high chopper to short that took a crazy hop towards the left field line. Lansdell rounded second agressively thinking the ball might get away from the defense, but Albayati gloved the ball and picked off Lansdell at second with a snap throw. Gilder then walked Eynon and Edwards to load the bases, but struck out Maggie Foxx on three pitches. As terrifying as the sequence was, it set the Firebells up nicely to be facing the bottom of the Queens lineup in the seventh with the score still at 10-5.

The Firebells went quietly in their half of the seventh despite a leadoff walk to Kaplan. Gilder gave up a one out single to Hondras in the seventh but got pinch-hitter Addisyn Baird to fly out to center and Shimano to ground out harmlessly to first to seal the win for the Firebells and force Game 4.