Our Season Continues After an Exciting Finish

Hi again everyone…it’s been a crazy couple of weeks for us over here in Japan!

The regular season is officially over. It's been close and dramatic all season, and the last two weekends were no exception. Two weekends ago we played Shionogi and Hitachi Software, and won our first game against Shionogi. We've gone back and forth with Software in the standings all season, and had won our previous two games against them – one being in the Japan Cup, so it didn't count in the standings. Unfortunately they got the best of us in our most recent game, winning 2-1.

We could have clinched a spot in the playoffs with a win, but instead we would have to wait another weekend. We played Toyota and Taiyo Yuden, arguably our toughest weekend of the year, to close the seaon. Toyota was fighting to clinch first place in the overall league standings, and we had a really rough game against them. Shokki ended up losing its game, and Toyota was able to clinch the top spot in the league with the win against us. Going into Sunday we were in a close race for fourth place with Software and Denso. We had secured the tiebreaker against both teams, but in the event of a three-way tie, we would not have the advantage.

It was a very confusing situation, but either way, we really needed to win over Taiyo Yuden. We scored one run in the third inning to take the lead. Yuden's cleanup hitter Tanagawa has had an amazing season in Japan, and unfortunately she continued her campaign to be the league's home run champion by belting a solo shot in the bottom of the fourth.

Luckily we regained the lead soon after when Erina Inoue hit a solo shot of her own to left-center. We faced the heart of their order in the bottom of the seventh, and our second baseman Fujimoto turned a double play to end the game. We celebrated our victory, soon realizing that the Software and Denso games were still not completed and that we needed one team to lose so that a three-way tie did not knock us out of playoffs. Denso had an early lead over Renesas, and we had no information on the Software game, so the hour following our game was a little intense. Everyone stayed outside the bus, mingling with friends and family and awaiting the final word. Eventually it came, and the girls went crazy. I just started cheering, not understanding the exact message, but I could tell it was good news!

We have a weekend off before the playoffs, so we'll spend that time practicing and scrimmaging before heading to Kyoto next Wednesday to prepare for our game. We play third-place finisher Shokki Saturday, while Toyota will play Renesas. The winner of our game will have to play the loser of the other game to advance to the championship game later on Sunday. Toyota and Renesas will have the advantage of having to win just one game to make the championship, since they finished higher in the standings. It’s been an exciting season, and I'm really looking forward to competing in the playoffs.

I’ll let you know how it goes!

Hi guys! Just finished up a big weekend with my Japanese team.

It was our only three-game weekend, and we definitely kept the momentum from the Japan Cup going. We started off with Iyo Bank on Friday, and Yamane earned the win as we scored in multiple innings for a final score of 11-0. Up next we faced Sagawa on Saturday, and I started and threw five innings for the win in that game. Our offense came out strong again, so Yamane finished off the final innings and we won, 6-0. Sunday was our biggest game, facing first-place Shokki on the final day. As I've mentioned before, foreign pitchers have a limit on innings, so as we are nearing the final stretch our coach has to create a strategy for when to use those innings. I think I had 33 innings left going into the weekend, so after Sagawa that left me with 28.

Yamane started against Shokki, and we faced American Katie Burkhart. We scored two runs in the second inning after Itoh led off the inning with a hit and we were able to load the bases. Our shortstop Kageyama was given the hit and run sign, and she delivered to score Itoh. Our captain Misato followed with an RBI sacrifice fly to left field to score the second run. Unfortunately Shokki answered with three runs of its own in the bottom of the second inning. The score would remain 3-2 until the top of the top of the seventh .

Our team never seems to quit, and Monday was no exception. Erina Inoue hit a line drive up the middle, which Burkhart deflected, and Erina got stuck deciding whether to try for second base. Fortunately she was safe at second after a rundown. Then she was bunted over to third by Kageyama, and Misato scored her with a hit and run to shortstop. I came in to start the bottom of the seventh and walked their leadoff hitter Karino before settling down a little and getting out of that inning.

In extra innings we used the international tiebreaker, which means that each team puts the person who made its last out on second base. Our right-fielder Nagayoshi was placed on second, and Natalie bunted her over to third. Ono smashed a line drive to the third baseman, who wasn't able to handle it, allowing Nagayoshi to score and Ono to reach first safely. In Shokki's half of the inning we were able to keep them from bunting, and the first batter flew out to shallow left. The second hitter struck out, and a fly ball to deep short stop was the last out to finish the game and secure the win. It was definitely a very exciting game and a big win to move us a game ahead for fourth place. After the weekend the League standings look like this

15-3 Renesas
15-3 Shokki
15-3 Toyota
13-5 LeoPalace
12-6 Software
12-6 Denso
7-11 Yuden
6-12 Sagawa
5-13 Toda
4-14 Shionogi
2-16 Honda
2-16 Iyo Bank

We have a short week ahead - back to practice today (Wednesday) and leaving again Thursday for our next trip. We face Shionogi and Hitachi Software this weekend as we head into our final four regular-season games. Software is only one game behind us, so it's yet another must-win game for us as it seems every game is at this point!

Off to practice..

Thanks!
Angela

A Fun Week with the Family

Hello everyone.

I had a great week last week, spending a lot of overdue time with my family. We played in the Japan Cup starting last Friday, September 24. It is a very prestigious tournament that includes 32 professional, club and college teams. All of the professional Division I teams that we play during the regular season were there, along with several teams from Divisions II and III. The tournament is played in "knockout" format, which is another way to say single elimination. Our first game was Friday at 9 a.m. gainst a Division II team. We won 22-1. The run rule was in effect for this tournament, so we split the game among three pitchers. I threw the fifth and final inning of the shortened game. My family arrived that evening, so I was able to meet them after dinner and help them get settled into our hotel.

On Saturday we faced Denso, a pretty tough draw, at 9 a.m. in our second game. Their scrappy leadoff hitter started the game with a full-count home run, but we were able to settle down after that. We scored four runs and held them just two more hits through the rest of the game to win, 4-1. We had a break before facing Hitachi Software at 1 p.m. in our third game. We played well against them last spring, but have not faced them yet during the second half. This was the first time since college that I've pitched two consecutive games in the same day, so I was a little nervous, but I think I actually pitched better with more work! Our offense kept going, scoring in multiple innings and getting a key home run late in the game to add some insurance. The final score was 5-0, and that moved us into the semifinals on Sunday. Things did not get any easier for us as we faced Renesas Takasaki, the current first-place team in our league. We played them well, and kept the game close, but ended up falling, 2-1, to finish the tournament tied for third place with Shokki. Toyota and Renesas faced each other in the title game, playing eight innings in what was a pitcher's duel between Ueno and Abbott. Renesas won the game in dramatic fashion with a walk-off grand slam in the eighth inning to take the title, 5-1.

We had several days off last week, so I was able to show my family around Tokyo and the other places that I enjoy visiting. We started the week by going to shine and shopping streets in Asakusa. They were able to get a bunch of souvenirs and see a popular tourist attraction. We also spent time in Harajuku, Shibuya, Shinjuku and at the Tokyo Tower. It was a pretty full week, and I think they enjoyed it. They left Friday, and it was back to work for me on Saturday. Unfortunately, rain cancelled our practice games, so we just had a gym day. We were able to get in a couple scrimmages Saturday, and resumed regular practice today. We have another big weekend coming up, as we play three games from Saturday through Monday. We start with Iyo Bank, followed by Sagawa and Shokki. We have seven total games remaining, so we'll know a lot about where we stand after this weekend. It was nice having a bit of a break, but we'll definitely have a very intense week of practices this week as we prepare for such a big weekend.

Wish us luck. I'll check in again next week.

Angela