Recap: Garcia leads Team Urtez to 4-2 win with home run, 7 strikeouts

Eric Rhew

Aug 20, 2023

ROSEMONT, Ill. — All it takes is one strong day and a player can move up the Athletes Unlimited Softball leaderboard very quickly. Just ask pitcher Rachel Garcia.

The former UCLA star surged into the top five in the league standings after an outstanding performance to lift Team Urtez to a 4-2 victory over Team Davidson in the penultimate game of Week Four at Parkway Bank Sports Complex on Sunday afternoon.

Garcia, who claimed the 2023 AUX Softball title earlier this summer, amassed 272 leaderboard points along with the MVP 1 honor after going 1-for-3 at the plate with a two-run home while earning the win in the circle after registering seven strikeouts in 6.0 innings.

Catcher Taylor Edwards earned MVP 2 distinction after going 1-for-2 with a walk and a RBI double in the fifth inning, giving her 178 leaderboard points in the victory. Corner infielder Tori Vidales finished the MVP trifecta with a RBI double in the fifth inning as part of her 2-for-2 performance, which garnered 168 points.

Pitcher Taylor McQuillin nailed down her first save of the season after pitching a scoreless seventh inning with a strikeout and a walk.

Four different players registered a hit in the loss for Team Davidson, including a RBI double by corner infielder Nadia Taylor. Pitcher Mariah Mazon (5-1) suffered her first loss of the season after giving two earned runs in 2.2 innings with one strikeout.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Team Urtez plated a pair of runs in the fourth and fifth innings to claim a 4-0 lead it did not relinquish. Garcia got the scoring started with a two-run home run to left field in the bottom of the fourth inning before Edwards and Vidales hit back-to-back doubles in the fifth inning to pad the lead. A two-run double by Taylor in the top of the sixth frame ended the shutout bid and cut the margin to 4-2.

LEADERBOARD IMPACT

Garcia’s 272-point outburst elevated her standing on the leaderboard by 13 places and she now stands just six points behind middle infielder Anissa Urtez for the fourth spot pending the results of the second game between Team Nickles and Team Alexander. Urtez, meanwhile, rose five spots to claim the No. 4 position, while McQuillin elevated her ranking by six positions.

GAME NOTES

Team Davidson and Team Urtez combined to score six runs in Sunday’s opener, raising the league’s season runs total to 161 through 23 games … Aspiration is committed to planting 10 trees for every run scored this season as part of its ‘Round the Bases’ initiative.
Garcia’s 272 points are tied for the fourth-highest single-game total in Championship Season history and match the fifth-highest single-game output in any Athletes Unlimited Softball contest (AUX or Championship Season) … She now owns three of the top five single-game point totals in Championship Season history in addition to four of the top six outcomes in combined history.
Catcher Mia Davidson extended her Athletes Unlimited Softball Championship Season record after being hit by a pitch twice in Sunday’s game, upping her season total to eight times being hit by a pitch … Davidson has now been hit by a pitch 12 times in her Championship Season career, which is also a league record.
Outfielder Victoria Hayward became the first player in Athletes Unlimited Softball with 100 career hits in AUX and Championship Season play with her single in the third inning … Hayward also owns the Championship Season career record with 67 hits in addition to registering an AUX record 33 hits.
Hayward has also hit safely in nine consecutive games while Taylor has registered a hit in five of her last six contests.
Vidales owns a five-game hitting streak after notching her third multi-hit game of the season.
Edwards has notched at least one hit in six of her last seven appearances.
Outfielder Haylie McCleney ended an eight-game hitless streak with a double to left field in the sixth inning … McCleney was 0-for-21 since August 4 before her double.