Hall of Fame Huddle: Paculba Drops Bomb on Pride; Racers Avoid Sweep

I knew it was going to be a great day for the Racers, I felt it yesterday. I was telling the bullpen catcher, Sarah Stromack, I just knew tomorrow was going to be a great day! Even though I had a good feeling, I could have never in my wildest dreams imagined I was going to witness the best game I've ever watched in Firestone Stadium! Of course Aja Paculba made it memorable, but so did Kelly Montalvo with her reliably great glove work on the hot corner! Lisa Norris made it memorable by putting in 9 innings of exceptional work on the mound, Nicole Trimboli had everyone pumped with her intensity and passion! Lisa Modglin kept us all captivated with her Kenny Lofton-esque play in center! The fans, who weathered 3 pretty miserable games this weekend stayed with the team and didn't lose a beat through 9 innings!

The Racers needed this win in the worst way, especially with a short practice week coming up, it was just what the doctor ordered! "I think it's really great that we got this win, on a Sunday, after playing three games of not scoring any runs. We scored one run in three games. I think we were reaching rock bottom," explains Paculba, "but today we came out and we kept fighting. Norris pitched a great game for us and we got a hit when we needed it. Everything will be great for us coming into next weekend." Losing three straight games by a combined score of 33-1 will take a toll on even the most confident of people, but the Racer's showed their heart and gritty style of play. It would have been so easy to pack it up after this brutal weekend and sitting in last place, but not this team! That's not Racers softball!

Lisa Norris set the tone for the Racers on the mound tonight by throwing 9 innings of lights-out softball. The jams she did get into she calmly got out of with the help of her defense. Lisa walked 3, hit 3, but struck out 7 and only gave up 6 hits. On the other end Osterman walked 3, gave up 2 earned runs on 5 hits and fanned 8. The Racers got a great deal of help from the Pride who made some overly aggressive and sloppy base running mistakes. In the 3rd with two on Jessica Mendoza got caught too far of the bag and got tagged in a rundown to end the inning. Kaylyn Castilla ended the 4th by gunning a stealing Kelsey Bruder at 2nd. Caitlin Lowe tried to stretch a throwing error into a two-bagger and got gunned down by Nicole Trimboli to end the 7th. In the 8th Lisa Modglin tracked down a deep fly ball from Megan Willis. Jamee Juarez appeared to have advanced on the fly ball but Norris appealed and the umpire agreed that Juarez didn't tag up properly, ending the 8th.

Paculba and Trimboli led the Racers at the plate, each collecting a pair of hits. Trimboli knocked in Castilla in the 2nd inning then Paculba scored Trimboli on a single. The game remained deadlocked until the 9th inning. "I was actually really calm that entire at bat, which is good, " as Aja walked me through her 9th inning at bat, "I was seeing her pitches really really well, and I was just thinking back to what she threw me in previous at bats. I was just hoping she was going in because I was expecting in. Luckily I got that pitch and I got a good swing on it, and it went."

With Trimboli on second Aja took a couple good hacks in the box, fouled a pitch off, took a ball; then sent the 1-2 pitch over the left field fence barely keeping it fair! The crowd erupted! The Racers bolted out of the dugout like they hadn't just played a 9 inning almost 3 hour game. At that moment no one remembered anything but today, all was right in Akron! all the fan support paid off, the competitive spirit of the Racers never faltered, they did it!

Aja Puculba explained after the game how everything things fell in place. "It felt good, I was hoping I'd come up in that situation, I was just looking for a base hit but I'm glad it ended that way." So was everyone else in the ballpark! Just winning might not been enough for this team and these fans. A 10-0 blowout might not have lit the competitive fire quite like a 9 inning thriller did today. This team needed to dig deep and show the fight and intensity that we all know the organization and coaching staff instill in them. That fight and fire carried over into the stands today and these Racers have us fans wanting more!

The Racers have a short week with the Brakettes coming to town on Tuesday for a doubleheader, the Brakettes are 49-0 on the season. Those games start at 6:05 PM. Then the Carolina Diamonds, who are riding a hot streak, come to Akron for a 4-game series next Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.