The Texas Smoke only needed five innings to win their second straight series in a 10-0 victory over the SIS Vipers.
The only thing hotter than the Texas summer on Tuesday was the Texas Smoke offense. Rocking their vibrant red uniforms, the Smoke took the lead in the first inning and never looked back. Sam Show got the start in the circle and the defense took care of the Viper bats. The only baserunner of the inning attempted a stolen base and was promptly thrown out by Sahvanna Jaquish. The bottom of the first was a long one with 14 Smoke players coming to the plate. Vipers starter, Annie Willis, got the leadoff strikeout before the inning went south in a hurry. Sahvanna Jaquish walked before a Baylee Klingler single and an error by the Viper defense had the bases loaded. Charles Echols smoked a ball back past the pitcher to score Jaquish but a great throw from center field got Klingler out at the plate. With two outs, the Smoke offense wasn’t done yet. Back-to-back walks followed by a hit batter brought home two additional runs before the Vipers relieved Willis with Gianna Mancha. A walk to AnaMarie Bruni scored Shelbi Sunseri and keep the bases loaded. In her second at bat of the inning, Janae Jefferson smashed a ball into the right field corner for a bases clearing triple, putting the Smoke up 7-0. Jaquish picked up her, team leading, sixth walk of the season and Baylee Klingler’s follow-up triple scored Jaquish and Jefferson; 9-0 Smoke. An infield fly that looked to end the bleeding for the Vipers was dropped by the second baseman and allowed Howe to reach first and Klingler to come home. Vipers center fielder, Raina O’Neal, caught a long fly ball from Echols to finally end the inning.
Hoping to chip away at the Smoke lead, the Vipers found no momentum at the plate in the second inning, going down in order. Texas saw their third pitcher of the night to start the bottom of the second in Meghan Schorman. Though the Smoke got a couple of baserunners on, they were unable to get any more runs across. The top of the third was another quick one for the Smoke defense and once the Smoke were back at the plate, Baylee Klingler reached on a hit-by-pitch but was left on base. The fourth inning saw several defensive substitutions for the Smoke including: Destini Brown to left field, Ciara Bryan to center field, Alyssa Rivera to right field and the first-ever WPF game appearance for the Italian signee, Marta Gasparotto, at short stop. The Vipers moved a runner into scoring position off a single and an errant throw back to the infield. Another single set up the Vipers with runners on the corners with one out. Sam Show and the Smoke defense completed a strikeout and a groundout to quash the threat. The bottom of the fourth saw the season first at bats for Kenna Wilkey and Marta Gasparotto, and though Marta reached base on an error she was stranded at first.
The top of the fifth was the Vipers last chance to extend the game but three straight groundouts gave the Smoke the first run-rule win of the WPF season and Sam Show her second complete game shutout.
The Smoke will seek their second straight series sweep tonight at 7 pm.
Player of the Game: Janae Jefferson made several difficult plays look absolutely effortless on the field and had three RBIs on the evening with her bases clearing triple.
Uniforms: ATX Reds
Notable Stats:
Sam Show – 5 IP, 1 K, 3 H, 0 BB, 0 ER
Sahvanna Jaquish – 2 walks, 1 run scored
Baylee Klingler – 2 hits, 2 RBI
Shelbi Sunseri – 2 walks, 1 run scored
Elsewhere in the WPF: The Spark secured a series win against the USSSA Pride in a 6-3 victory. Fa Leilua and Haley Lee each hit a home run while Keilani Rickets pitched six innings and recorded four strikeouts.