Hall of Fame Huddle: Racers Take Doubleheader Against Diamonds

Lisa Modglin was the star of the show in Game 1 of the doubleheader, but the Racers all played a part in the decisive 7-1 victory. Modglin led the game off with a double but was stranded on 2nd. The 2nd inning the Racers poured it on, scoring 4 runs! With one out Same Marder drove a pitch deep over the fence getting the racers on the board. With 2 outs Nicole Pauly singled and was driven home by Taylor Schlopy's home run. Kelly Montalvo then followed with the Racers first triple of the season and scored on Lisa Modglin's second hit of the day. In the 3rd three straight hits by Marder, Trimboli, and Pauly scored pinch runner Jessica Garcia. In the 4th Modglin got her 3rd hit and was followed by a hit by Paculba. Kaylyn Castilla drove in Modglin with a sac fly. The scoring ended in the 6th when Modglin's 4th base hit scored Taylor Schlopy.
On the mound Lisa Norris had a superb outing! She had a no hitter threw 4.2 innings, it was finally broken up by Amanda Kamekona's solo homer in the 5th. Lisa only allowed 2 hits and only gave one free pass. "I've been feeling really good lately, very confident," Norris explains, "just making sure I attack them and don't give in to anyone." Not only did Lisa strikeout 12 but she struck out 6 of the last 8 batters she faced after giving up the home run in the 5th, and I asked her about that after the game. "Well you got to expect that in this league, they're great hitters. I just got to make sure I'm hitting my spots, I'm up 7-0, there was no reason for me to go right at them still."
When i asked Lisa if there was any point in the game where she felt like it was her night she gave a very confident answer. "I knew it before the game started, it was my game. I just needed to come out and be confident." Sometimes it can be hard to focus on the task at hand and not make strikeouts and a no hitter the priorities but Lisa simply said she plays one pitch at a time.

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In Game 2 the Diamonds looked to come out and take the momentum and a few Racers errors allowed them to do that. After the Dimaonds scored in the first the Racers came right back and answered with a run of their own in the first. Lisa Modglin led the game off with a single and was driven in by Brianna Hesson. The hit was the 5th of the day for Modglin, who I got a chance to catch up with after the game. "I feel pretty comfortable up there, yesterday was a pretty rough day for me, I wasn't seeing the ball. So I really wanted to make it easier today, see the ball, hit the ball.", explains Modglin, "I wasn't trying to do too much and it kind of went my way."

The Racers really needed a great outing from Erin Arevalo, and they got just that! The strong performance was probably needed by Erin herself more than anyone though. Arevalo pitched a complete game giving up only 1 ER and 4 hits, dropping her ERA to 3.50. She only struck out one but she did an exceptional job letting her defense do the work and kept the ball in play.

Aja Puculba hit a run in with the bases loaded in the 4th to give the Racers the lead. Erin's toughest stretch came in the 6th where she gave up a few hits and a run but did a great job of limiting the damage, then came out and shut the Diamonds down in the 7th! The Racers fans were treated to some more late inning drama when Nicole Pauly came through with the bases juiced and hit the game winning single in the 7th, scoring Bri Hesson. Pauly was the leader of the game going 2 for 4 with a run scored and the game winning RBI.