​By Brandon Adam

The Scrap Yard Dawgs are off to the NPF Championship Series following their 4-3 win over the Akron Racers on Friday night at LSU's Tiger Park in Baton Rouge, LA.

The Dawgs only needed one more win to advance after beating the Racers 4-1 in Thursday's game one of the best-of-three semifinals. Pitcher Monica Abbott dominated the Racers on Thursday, allowing only one hit -- a home run to right fielder Shellie Robinson -- while striking out 14 batters in a full seven innings of work.

With their semifinals wins, the Dawgs move on to play the USSSA Pride in the best-of-three championship series on Saturday.
 

Dawgs Show Up Early

On Friday, the Racers broke into the hit column right away after a single by center fielder A.J. Andrews. However, Akron got nothing more in the inning and left Andrews on first base following three consecutive outs.

Unlike the Racers, the Dawgs were able to capitalize on their opportunity in the bottom of the first inning.

A leadoff walk and a sacrifice bunt put Nerissa Myers on second base with one out. First baseman Brittany Cervantes hit a hard ground ball that bounced off the glove of Akron third baseman Kelley Montalvo and into right field, allowing Myers to round third base and score the first run of the game. However, that would be the only run of the inning for the Dawgs after Akron pitcher Sara Groenewegen retired the next two batters.

In the second inning, the Racers once again got their leadoff hitter on base following an error but did no further damage. After first baseman Nicole Schroeder grounded into a fielder's choice, Montalvo hit a ball deep into left field, but the ball was caught at the wall by left fielder Kayla Winkfield. Catcher Griffin Joiner popped out to end the inning.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Scrap Yard Dawgs sent two more runs across the plate. The Dawgs got two runners on after a one out double by second baseman Hannah Flippen and a walk by catcher Meagan May Whitley. Flippen and May Whitley were pushed over into scoring position on an infield groundout by Winkfield. That's when Myers stepped to the plate and hit a two-run single to center to push the Dawgs' lead to 3-0.

Akron halted the Scrap Yard Dawgs' momentum after bringing in pitcher Megan Betsa for Groenewegen. Betsa retired the first batter she saw to end the inning.

The Racers Push Back

Trailing by three runs, the Racers were close to being back in the field after two straight strikeouts in the top of the third inning. But after a two-out infield single by second baseman Ashley Thomas, designated hitter Sami Fagan blasted a two-run homer that put Akron back into the game.

With the Racers down one, Betsa got out of the bottom of the inning unscathed after giving up a leadoff walk.

Akron tied the game in the next frame after shortstop Sam Fischer singled and stole a base before scoring on a two-out single by Joiner.

With the game tied, the Scrap Yard Dawgs called upon Abbott once more. Abbott got out of the top of the fourth inning by striking out the first two batters she faced.

Abbott continued her rout of the Racers in the fifth inning by striking out another two batters in a 1-2-3 inning.

With Abbott holding Akron at bay, the Scrap Yard Dawgs sent across the game-winning run in the bottom of the fifth. Center fielder Alexis Bennett scored after being walked in by Akron pitcher Rachele Fico.

"Monica is just really special," Scrap Yard Dawgs coach Gerry Glasco said. "She's really talented, obviously."

"We felt like if we could keep her out the bullpen until 6, 6:30, then it's going to drop 10 degrees in temperature, and she was only going to sweat out there an hour. Seven innings for a pitcher, plus a bullpen before the game, it wears them out mentally. For her to come in, three innings of work on a shorter day is impressive for her mentally and physically."

Abbott maintained her excellence throughout the sixth and seventh innings, ending the Racers' season. Abbott struck out eight of the 11 batters she faced, and allowed zero batters to reach base in 3 2/3 innings pitched.

"I'm really proud of my team," Racers manager Charlotte Morgan said. "The fight that they had and everything the Racers stand for so I'm very proud. Not the way we wanted to end, don't like losing, but we'll get back to the drawing board and figure out what we have to do to get better next year."

In the other semifinal series, the Pride took the first two games against the Chicago Bandits and were led by a strong performance in game two by first baseman Hallie Wilson, who finished the game with two hits and a RBI.

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