Recap: Team Denham secures 6-1 win over Team Flippen to end week 3-0

Eric Rhew

Aug 27, 2023

ROSEMONT, Ill. — Pitcher Alyssa Denham has done everything she can to gain the top spot on the Athletes Unlimited Softball leaderboard. And now, all she can do is wait.

The former Arizona standout, who earned second place in the 2022 standings, gave up one run on five hits to lead Team Denham to a 6-1 victory over Team Flippen in the penultimate game of the season on Sunday afternoon at Parkway Bank Sports Complex.

The win allowed Team Denham to finish the final week of the campaign with a perfect 3-0 record, while Team Flippen lost its third game in a row.

Denham, who finished with 222 leaderboard points, secured MVP 1 honors in leading her squad to a clean sweep of its three games. She registered three strikeouts while earning her league-leading seventh win in the circle.

Outfielder Amanda Lorenz paced the eight-hit attack for Team Denham by going 2-for-4 with a double, two runs batted in and a run scored. The former Florida standout was the game’s MVP 2 selection and ended her season by collecting 178 leaderboard points.

Corner infielder Sydney Romero, who tallied 168 leaderboard points, finished the MVP selections for Team Denham after posting a 2-for-3 effort with a triple and two runs batted in.

Outfielder Victoria Hayward paced Team Flippen in the loss with two hits and a run scored. Pitcher Mariah Mazon (5-2) suffered the loss in the circle after allowing four runs on four hits over 1.2 innings with two walks.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Team Denham sprinted to a 6-0 lead by scoring four runs in the second inning and two more runs in the fourth inning. Three doubles by middle infielder Aubrey Leach, Lorenz and outfielder Haylie McCleney accounted for the four runs in the second inning before a triple from Romero and a single by corner infielder Sam Fischer upped the advantage to 6-0.

LEADERBOARD IMPACT

Denham’s 222 points vaulted her into the top spot on the leaderboard with a 78-point advantage over pitcher Odicci Alexander ahead of the season finale between Team Gibson and Team Alexander. Romero, meanwhile, rose four spots into fifth place with 1,600 points while catcher Gwen Svekis stands fourth with 1,658 points.

GAME NOTES

Team Denham and Team Flippen combined to score seven runs during Sunday’s opener, upping the league’s season total to 198 runs through 29 games … Aspiration is committed to planting 10 trees for every run scored as part of its ‘Round the Bases’ initiative.
Team Flippen challenged an out call made against catcher Mia Davidson with one out in the top of the sixth inning, which was successful.
Team Flippen was held to just one run in its three losses this week, equaling the fewest runs scored by a team in Championship Season history … Team Osterman was limited to just one run over three games during Week Four of the 2021 campaign.
Team Denham won 19-of-21 innings during its three-game sweep and secured 340 out of a possible 360 win points in the season’s final week … The squad pitched back-to-back shutouts to open the week and conceded just one run, the lowest opponent run total in a week in Championship Season history.
Team Denham outscored its opponents by an 18-1 margin in its three victories.
Hayward closed the season by hitting safely in 11 of her final 12 games after posting a pair of hits against Team Denham on Sunday.
Corner infielder Tori Vidales registered a hit in six of her final seven games after her RBI single in the sixth inning.