Recap: Piancastelli earns 210 points with grand slam, MVP honors

The squad exploded for a season-high 13 runs, including seven in the first two innings, en route to completing a three-game sweep with its 13-8 victory over Team Harshman to open Sunday’s Athletes Unlimited Softball twinbill.

Outfielder Erika Piancastelli blasted her way to MVP 1 honors and 210 leaderboard points after going 3-for-4 with a grand slam and five runs batted in. Catcher Dejah Mulipola, the game’s MVP 3 choice, rose to the top of the leaderboard after adding a single and a double with four runs batted in to claim 140 leaderboard points.

Catcher Taylor Edwards secured MVP 2 notice in the loss for Team Harshman, going 2-for-4 with a two-run home run and an RBI single. Edwards fashioned 120 leaderboard points for her efforts.

Relief pitcher Sydney Littlejohn Watkins earned her second win of the season in the circle after allowing two runs on four hits over 2.0 innings of work. Danielle Watson (0-2) took the loss after giving up seven runs, including six earned runs, over 1.1 innings with seven hits.

HOW IT HAPPENED

After taking the early 1-0 lead on an RBI single by first baseman Amanda Chidester in the first inning, Team Mulipola erupted for six runs on six hits in the second frame for a 7-0 lead. The team sent 11 batters to the plate in the frame and had seven straight hitters reach base.

LEADERBOARD IMPACT

Mulipola, Chidester and outfielder Haylie McCleney took over the top three spots on the leaderboard heading into the Week Two finale between Team Eberle and Team Jaquish. Meanwhile, Piancastelli had an 18-spot improvement on the leaderboard with her 210 points on Sunday afternoon.

GAME NOTES

• McCleney, who went 2-for-3 with four runs scored, had a streak of reaching base in nine consecutive plate appearances snapped with a flyout to right field in the bottom of the sixth inning … During the streak, which spanned two games, she was 5-for-5 with four walks.

• Piancastelli’s grand slam in the fifth inning was the third in Athletes Unlimited Softball Championship Season play, including her second career grand slam … Piancastelli also had the last grand slam on Sept. 5, 2021, against Team Jaquish.

• There were a season-high 21 runs scored between the two teams in Sunday’s game, upping the league season total to 109 runs through 11 games … Aspiration has committed to plant 10 trees for every run scored this season as part of its “Aspiration Round the Bases” initiative.

• The game was completed in 2 hours, 45 minutes, marking the longest game by time this season.

• The teams combined to leave 13 runners on base and had nine total extra-base hits.

GAME MVPS

• #1 – Erika Piancastelli (Team Mulipola, +60)
• #2 – Taylor Edwards (Team Harshman, +40)
• #3 – Dejah Mulipola (Team Mulipola, +20)