Jul 10, 2015 4 min read

The future met the past on a rainy Friday night at Consol Energy Park in what had to be one of the more bizarre softball games in National Pro Fastpitch history.

Cat Osterman, one of the greatest pitchers to play in the NPF, matched balls and strikes against Miranda Kramer, the Pennsylvania Rebellion rookie, for six innings, had nine strikeouts and did not allow a hit.

And Osterman was losing, 1-0.

But Shelby Pendley, a rookie first-round pick in April’s NPF Draft, lashed a one-out double to the fence in right-centerfield to drive in two runs and provide the USSSA Pride with a 2-1 victory over the Rebellion in front of 986 fans.

The loss was the 10th in a row – and fifth by one run – for the Rebellion. Osterman got her first no-hitter since last season when she victimized the Rebellion in a 7-0 victory July 6. She has five no-hitters in her NPF career.

“I’ve had close games with no-hitters before, but I don’t remember ever throwing one and losing,” said Osterman, who had 10 strikeouts and allowed only two balls hit out of the infield. “It would have been an odd situation. A no-hitter is pretty rare.”

Osterman’s normal game routine was interrupted when she realized that she did not have all of her equipment with her when she arrived at the field. She had to return to her apartment to retrieve what she left behind.

“I rushed through my warmups,” Osterman said. “You could see it in the first inning.”

Osterman allowed a run without a hit in the first inning, walking leadoff hitter Cheyenne Cordes and cleanup hitter Kristyn Sandberg. Osterman then hit Alexa Peterson to load the bases and hit Whitney Arion with a pitch to give the Rebellion a 1-0 lead.

“That first inning I’ll own,” Osterman said. “It hurt us but it didn’t kill us.”

Osterman had two chances at completing the no-hitter. When she finished the sixth inning, the Rebellion needed three outs to win the game. But Kramer, who threw 101 pitches, gave up a leadoff single to Kelly Kretschman then hit Brigette Del Ponte with a pitch. Breja’e Washington pinch-ran for Kretschman before Kramer got Madison Shipman, the No. 4 hitter, to fly to right. Pendley then laced a liner to the gap on a pitch that appeared to be high in the strike zone.

“It was a rise ball up in the zone,” Pendley said. “I saw it pretty good and I got the barrel on it.”

“She is a hard out,” said Kramer. “I was trying to get it in as tight as possible. She got a good piece of it.”

Osterman had a 1-2-3 seventh inning but Alisa Goler made the final out by sending a fly ball to within a few feet of the fence in right field.

The left-handed Kramer, who missed the last month with an inflamed throwing arm, was making her debut against one of the best pitchers in women’s softball history. The 32-year-old Osterman will be retiring after eight seasons.

“When I saw I was going against her, I thought wow,” Kramer said. “She was the person I looked up to in softball. I just changes houses, and I packed up a poster I had of her. It was a cool experience.”

Kramer allowed two runs and four hits in the seven innings. She struck out four and walked one. Kramer was added to the Rebellion roster yesterday after infielder Yuri Masuyama was released.

Masuyama broke her ankle on the recent road trip, ending her season. She returned to Japan yesterday.

Kramer had been having occasional discomfort during the college season at Western Kentucky. She threw 192 pitches in a 14-inning NCAA Division I playoff game against Georgia and soon after experienced more discomfort. That led to a month off to heal.

“I’m 100 percent now, no pain at all,” she said. “It was nerve wracking but a relief (to get my first start).”