Recap: Tori Vidales lifts Team Warren over Team Garcia, 8-7

However, Vidales found a great way to not only extend the streak but give Team Warren a win with one swing of the bat as her home run in the seventh inning piloted the squad to an 8-7 victory over Team Garcia at Parkway Bank Sports Complex.

The win allowed Team Warren to avenge a pair of losses from Saturday and improve to 1-2 in the final series of the season while Team Garcia dropped to 2-1 after splitting its two contests on Sunday.

Vidales, who claimed MVP 2 distinction with the late heroics, hit one of the game’s seven home runs when she belted the first pitch she saw from rookie pitcher Brooke Yanez over the left field fence. The home run allowed her to finish with 188 leaderboard points.

Catcher Taylor Edwards garnered MVP 1 notice after becoming the first player this season to hit two home runs in a game after going 3-for-4 with a pair of homers along with a double. Edwards, who also drove in two runs, tallied 260 leaderboard points in the winning effort.

Designated player Nadia Taylor came off the bench to register a pair of hits in the loss for Team Garcia, including a three-run home run that gave the squad a 7-6 edge in the fifth inning. Taylor received MVP 3 recognition to close the evening with 90 leaderboard points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Trailing by a 7-6 margin going into the seventh inning, Team Warren plated two runs to take the one-run advantage on Vidales’ two-run home run with one out in the frame. Megan Faraimo sealed the victory in the bottom of the frame by retiring the side in order.

LEADERBOARD IMPACT

Edwards’ 260 leaderboard points allowed her to surge up the leaderboard by eight positions into seventh place, while middle infielder Anissa Urtez vaulted into third place after a six-place improvement on Sunday. While pitcher Rachel Garcia owns a 248-point lead over middle infielder Aubrey Leach, there is a 24-point margin between the next five spots.

GAME NOTES

• Team Warren and Team Garcia combined to score 15 runs in Sunday’s finale, increasing the league’s season run total to 203 runs through 18 games … Aspiration is committed to planting 10 trees for every run scored this season as part of its ‘Round the Bases’ initiative.

• The teams combined to initiate three captain’s challenges in Sunday’s contest, which were all unsuccessful … Teams are now 2-for-18 (.111) in captain’s challenges this season.

• Sunday’s game marked the fifth contest decided by a one-run margin this season.

• There were a combined seven home runs hit in Sunday’s finale, marking the most home runs hit in a game this season … A total of 44 home runs have been recorded in 16 games this season.

• Outfielder Victoria Hayward registered a season-high three hits in the loss on Sunday, marking her fifth multi-hit game of the season … She has also hit safely in seven of her last eight outings.

• Edwards had fashioned just three hits in her previous six games before her three-hit performance against Team Garcia … It also marked her third multi-hit performance of the season.

• Middle infielder Caleigh Clifton hit her first home run of the season with a two-run blast in the second inning … It was the first AUX home run of her career and the eighth in her Athletes Unlimited career.

• Garcia had her streak of four consecutive outings with 5.0 or more innings pitched halted after throwing just 3.0 innings in Sunday’s loss … She allowed five runs on five hits with four strikeouts in a no-decision.

GAME MVPS

• #1 – Taylor Edwards (Team Warren, +60)
• #2 – Tori Vidales (Team Warren, +40)
• #3 – Nadia Taylor (Team Garcia, +20)