Pride make quick work of Rebellion for win
Well, at least it didn’t take long.
Kelsey Nunley showed why she was the first-round pick of the USSSA Pride in April by throwing a two-hitter and striking out four in a 6-0 victory over the Pennsylvania Rebellion at Consol Energy Park Monday night.
It took only 1:49.
Nunley did not allow a runner past second base and retired the first eight batters before shortstop Whitney Arion looped a single to center field in the third. Nunley walked the next batter but got Stacey Porter to ground out to end the inning. The Rebellion (6-10) would not come close to scoring again.
“She did a really good job,” said Rebellion head coach Craig Montvidas. “We were totally dominated. We’re getting killed by not getting the third out after the second out. It’s been haunting us the whole year.”
Nunley is 1-1 with a 1.95 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 14 innings.
“I’m starting to feel more comfortable,” said Nunley. “I played against most of these girls in college. I knew a little bit about them.”
Meanwhile, Rebellion starter Emma Johnson allowed the leadoff batter to reach base to start an inning four times and that means trouble in the National Pro Fastpitch softball league. RBI singles by Hallie Wilson in the second, GiOnna DiSalvatore in the third and Kelly Kretschman in the fourth gave the 7-2 Pride a 3-0 lead. Two of those runs were set up by stolen bases and the Pride would add two more in the game.
“We had five pop fouls for outs and that is not going to help, we didn’t get the leadoff runner on and they did four times, we didn’t execute and they stole four bases,” said Montvidas.
The death knell for the Rebellion came in the seventh, when Johnson was replaced by Dallas Escobedo after giving up a single to Meagan Wiggins to start the inning. Escobedo gave up a single and a walk before Lexie Elkins dropped a fly ball that would have been the third out. Chelsea Goodacre made the Rebellion pay with a two-run single.
The Rebellion picked up a player and lost one over the last week.
Chelsea Wilkinson, a third-round draft pick out of Georgia, decided not to play in the NPF. Wilkinson arrived last Sunday after the Bulldogs were eliminated in the NCAA tournament.
“She came out to the park last Sunday and watched the game from the bench,” Montvidas said. “She asked to come out for a pitching session. The next day … she decided to go home. She said her heart wasn’t in it. So we’re on the lookout for another pitcher.”
The Rebellion signed Jade Rhodes, a first baseman out of LSU who the Rebellion wanted to draft. Rhodes indicated she did not want to play but recently changed her mind.
“She was on our draft list, like everyone else, but let coaches know she wasn’t going to play, so she wasn’t drafted,”said Montvidas. “Then, we learned she wanted to play and this was the team she wanted to play for.”