What a disastrous weekend for the Pride! I'm sorry I don't know how else to explain this weekend. You never know which offense is going to show up for this team. The offense was stellar all weekend last weekend and firing on all cylinders. This weekend I would have settled for one cylinder! The defense was a mess as well this weekend and the pitching in all honesty wasn't much better. There were also some coaching decisions that certainly made me scratch my head.
Danielle Lawrie pitched the first game on Thursday. It was obvious from the first pitch something was not right. She was messing with her hand constantly between pitches and look completely uncomfortable. She is usually passionate and energetic in the circle and she wasn't. I don't think I saw her smile one time Thursday night. I've watched her pitch many many many times and I can't think of too many times that she looked that uncomfortable. It was very difficult for me to watch. She battled so hard and I was very impressed with her effort but it wasn't enough. She gave way to Sarah Pauly who also struggled. Offense never really got going well and the Pride lost 8-2. Thinking about it now the lack of energy and passion seemed to carry over the rest of the weekend. I'm not blaming anybody, just saying the problems and lack of energy just snow balled from ehre.
Friday night was the typical pitching dual we see between Monica Abbott and Cat Osterman every series between the Bandits and the Pride. Monica Abbott again got the best of the Pride and 1 hit them AGAIN. Cat pitched a great game and pitched her heart out but the Bandits managed to score a run(AGAIN) and that was all they needed. This was the least disappointing game of the weekend but that's not saying much.
Yesterday Sarah Pauly got the start and didn't even make it out of the 2nd inning before being pulled for Danielle Lawrie. I was surprised to say the least to see this but Danielle looked very good. There was more drama between Danielle and Megan Wiggins and I thought we were going to see a fight between not just them but the benches for both teams. Honestly I've never seen anything quite like that in the NPF. I think emotions were boiling already and that was just the fire to light the fuse. I was glad to see Danielle looking better and you could tell she felt better! The offense was slow and sluggish getting started but made a late game rally. They were facing the Bandits statistically worst pitcher(she came into the game with an 8.98 ERA) and still couldn't come away with a win, just one of the many disappointments of the weekend. They lost 10-7.
And then today. I think it might actually go down as the most disappointing game of the whole series. Brittany Mack got the start and like Sarah Pauly yesterday didn't even make it out of the 2nd. She just didn't have her best stuff at all today. They brought in Cat Osterman again and she did a great job not allowing the Bandits to score again. But the offense was already on the plane headed back to Orlando apparently because it certainly wasn't on that field. Pride had lots of base runners but nobody to step up and get the big hit. They only scraped up 1 run. They had the bases loaded and 1 out in the 6th against Monica Abbott who came in to get the save and walked away with nothing to show for it. So the Bandits completed the sweep with a 3-1 win. I've been watching the Pride for several seasons now and I can't really ever remember a time that they got swept. Not just swept but never really in any 4 of the games.
I don't know what happened in all honesty. I wish I did because if it was something simple enough that I could point to it, the team could too and make an easy fix. But I have noticed a few things. First off, coaches spent the whole weekend trying to get Watley and Mendoza going. I'm honestly not sure whats going on with Watley this summer but she has been less than impressive to say the least. Obviously something is wrong because she has logged only 1 game at SS all season. Mendoza just joined the team again this weekend because she was doing WCS with ESPN. She actually got going pretty well but throwing her back in the lineup seemed to kind of throw things off. I don't know maybe it's just a matter of some time and finding that rhythm. I really felt though that they wasted too much time with the one lineup that wasn't producing. You've got ladies sitting on that bench who would love to get a chance to hit too! I don't understand how they expect these ladies to find their rhythm when they aren't being allowed to hit more than 1 or maybe twice in a series. I think they need to not be set on one lineup and switch things around here and there. I think they have great players sitting on the bench, who deserve the chance to play as well! I've always enjoyed the chemistry, the passion, and energy that this team plays with. But I felt that was missing this series, especially the energy. My hope is this is the low point in the season and things go up from here! Because this weekend was certainly a huge low. I hope they can find some confidence, passion, and energy and change this around. I feel for them and I know they are all extremely disappointed with this series. I know they are all asking themselves the same things I'm trying to answer. Positive thing about this weekend is, no championship trophy was handed out and there is still a lot of season left to be played. Another positive is the Pride doesn't play the Bandits in Rosemont again in the regular season(Thank God because honestly guys I couldn't listen to the Bandit announcers do one more game and not say something to someone! They are some of the worst announcers I've personally ever heard! If they could learn to pronounce the players names it would help a ton!). These women are professionals and I fully believe they'll turn this around that we haven't seen or heard the last from them! But ugh this weekend was not fun! If it was so not fun for me I can only imagine how it was for them!
Well time to forget this weekend and move on! The Pride goes to LSU next weekend to face off against the Diamonds again! I was very sad and disappointed to find out that Teresa Wilson has been fired from her position as the Diamonds head coach. I'd like to know what happened but all I can do is wish her the best! Diamonds have had a very good series against the Racers taking the first 3 games of the series and the last game will be played tomorrow. So the as usual the Pride will have their work cut out for them and they better find some offense before next weekend!
Well that is all I have for now! Let's go Pride! Go Huskies! Boomer Sooner! RTR Go Bama! FTG!
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