Rebellion frustrated in home-opener loss
Jim McNutt/Observer-Reporter The Rebellions get their signals mixed in the 5th inning as outfielder, Sammie Garcia (21), left, watches as infielder Olivia Watkins (4), center and outfielder Courtney Senas (8) drop a fly ball against the Chicago Bandits at Consol Energy Park Friday night.
Jim McNutt/Observer-Reporter With Chicago Bandit’s Michelle Gascoigne (32) on 2nd base Rebellion pitcher, Bryana Walker (17) pitches her way out of the 6th inning at Consol Energy Park Friday night.
The Rebellion’s Ashley Carter is cheered on by the team’s public relations and social media manager, Deb Hilton, as the team takes the field for its home opener against Chicago at Consol Energy Park Friday.
For an organization looking for a validation to its rebuilding plan, the Pennsylvania Rebellion’s National Pro Fastpitch season opener Friday night was encouraging.
And frustrating.
The Rebellion, who are coming off a miserable 9-39 season, played the Chicago Bandits even – with the exception of a one-out stretch in the fourth inning – Friday night but were dealt a 2-0 defeat before a crowd of 1,013 at Consol Energy Park.
Chicago got two walks around a single by RT Cantillo – all with two outs – and a two-run ground-rule double to right field by Danielle Zymkowitz, the No. 9 hitter in the Bandits’ lineup, to score the game’s only runs and spoil the NPF debut of Rebellion manager Craig Montvidas.
“You want to start with a win and get everybody excited,” said Montvidas, the head coach of the Dutch National team who was hired by the Rebellion in the offseason to be their manager in the team’s second NPF season.
“You play X-amount of games, and you’re going to have good days and have bad days. But you have to find a way to win games like this one – games that are close and you have a shot to win.”
Chicago found that way in the fourth inning, and it included some help from the Rebellion. Pennsylvania pitcher Angel Bunner and Chicago’s Kirsten Verdun were locked in a scoreless battle when Bunner ran out of steam. After getting the first two outs of the inning, Bunner issued her only two walks around a line-drive single through the right side of the infield by Cantillo.
With the bases loaded, Zymkowitz drove a Bunner pitch over the head of right fielder Alexa Peterson and the ball bounced high over the fence for a double.
“That’s a good No. 9 hitter,” Montvidas said. “They have her in the right spot.”
Chicago manager Mike Steuerwald agreed.
“(Zymkowitz) is somebody who we can move around in the lineup and trust her wherever we put her,” he said. “We can put her in the No. 9 hole and let her loose and give her some freedom.”
That was all the offense Verdun, a former standout at DePaul University, needed.
“Verdun did a great job of attacking. She was behind in the count only a handful of times all night,” Steuerwald said. “We didn’t know what to expect from her, and we were ready to go to our bullpen, but from the fourth inning on she shut the door.”
Verdun scattered six hits – two by rookie third baseman Cheyenne Cordes – and got out of an early jam with the help of her defense and a missed sign by a Rebellion player.
Olivia Watkins, a quick-as-a-hiccup shortstop acquired from Akron during the offseason, led off the bottom of the first inning for the Rebellion by legging out a double down the right-field line. Chicago first baseman Brittany Cervantes was able to dive and get a glove on Watkins’ hot smash over the base to slow down the ball, otherwise it might have rolled into the Chicago bullpen and led to an inside-the-park homer for the speedy Watkins.
However, a potential big inning stalled. With no outs, and as Mandy Ogle faked a bunt, Watkins was thrown out trying to steal third base.
“It was miscommunication,” Montvidas confirmed. “It was a missed sign. I want to be aggressive, but I don’t know if I want to be that aggressive that early.”
Those are things that happen early in a season, especially when a team has as many new players as the new-look Rebellion.
“If they score there, it might be a different game,” Steuerwald said.
Having a leadoff double turned out to be the Rebellion’s best chance to score.
Pennsylvania also had a runner at second base with no outs in the second when Peterson led off the inning with a double. She was stranded there. The Rebellion also had runners on first and second with one out in the third, and a one-out double by Cordes in the sixth, but did not have a runner reach third base all night.
“We had that leadoff double in the second, then we had a strikeout. Two on and one out in another inning and then have a strikeout,” Montvidas lamented. “We have to cut down on the strikeouts. … We couldn’t put pressure on their defense.”
Bryana Walker threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Bunner. … The game was the season opener for the NPF, which has an odd schedule early in the season. The Rebellion will play seven games before the two-time defending league champion USSSA Pride play their season opener June 6. … The Rebellion play a home doubleheader today against two different teams. They play Akron at 5:05 followed by another game against Chicago.