Stunning.
That’s the only way to describe the Portland Cascade’s 5-1 victory over the Texas Volts in Round Rock on Friday night.
The Cascade entered the top of the seventh inning down 1-0, even though their starting pitcher, Sam Landry, had allowed only one hit to that point.
But Cascade hitters awoke in the seventh, hitting three home runs against Volts starting pitcher Rachel Garcia, who had pitched well herself. Portland set an AUSL record for most runs in a seventh inning with its five-run outburst against the Volts.
Sis Bates reached on an error by Volts shortstop Tiere Jennings to begin the inning. One out later, Korbe Otis lofted a two-run homer down the left-field line to give the Cascade a 2-1 lead. Megan Grant followed immediately with her fourth homer of the season. Sydney Stewart reached second base on a throwing error by Garcia. After, Mia Davidson flew out. Kenleigh Cahalan homered to right field.
By the time the inning ended, the Cascade (6-4) had sent nine batters to the plate to score the come-from-behind victory and snap a two-game losing streak.
“I didn’t feel like there was any quit,” Otis said. “We all knew Sam was throwing a really good game. That was obviously in the back of our minds. I think that we were all bought in. We bought into each other. It showed in that inning. It was awesome.”
Otis was robbed of a hit in the fourth inning on a diving catch by Volts left fielder Jalia Lassiter. But her perseverance was rewarded in the seventh with the homer.
“That’s the game of softball,” she said. “If that says anything, that’s what softball is. Sometimes you hit it right at somebody. Sometimes that’s just how the game goes. Just keep swinging. We said in the huddle, ‘We’re one swing away.’ So I think that mindset really helped us.”
Landry improved her record to 3-1 and lowered her ERA from 1.15 to 1.11 with a complete-game effort. She gave up just two hits on the night. The lone run against her came in the third. Jackie Lis led off with a double for the Volts, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and came home on a sac fly by Danieca Coffey.
Cascade coach Tairia Flowers agreed it would have been a shame for Landry to have lost the game considering how well she pitched.
“Absolutely,” the coach said. “She had a one-hitter going into the last inning. You’re always trying to figure out ways to score runs. We had opportunities early on. For our pitching staff, they do such a great job.”
“They got the sac hit that moved (the runner) over and the sac fly, it’s like, ‘OK, we’ve got to figure out ways to keep her in the game,’ and she threw a gem. I’m glad we were able to keep her in there for the whole seven and to figure it out to get her the win.”
The Volts (3-8) had their two-game winning streak snapped. Garcia pitched 6.2 innings, giving up five hits and five runs, only two of which were earned. She struck out eight.
“Obviously, hats off,” said Volts coach Ricci Woodard. “Sam Landry threw a heck of a game You can’t get just one hit and think you’re going to keep the momentum of the game. I thought Rachel Garcia threw a heck of a game. I told her, ‘That one’s on me,’ because I probably should have changed her when we got to the top of the seventh with the top of lineup. It’s hard to throw in this league four times against the same hitters. Garcia was lights out tonight, so you were hoping she was going to be able to complete that game and win it for us. Tough game all the way around. I thought we played a really great game, and so did they.”
This was the first of a three-game series at Texas. It continues on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on MLB.tv.
Bruce Miles has covered sports in the Chicago area for 47 years, including baseball, hockey, football and Athletes Unlimited Softball League. He covered the Chicago Cubs in their historic run to the World Series title in 2016. He has written stories for Athletes Unlimited since 2020.
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