Aug. 7, 2007
ALLENTOWN, Pa. -
With the Philadelphia Force playing six games over five days in the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) league this week, former Illinois State softball pitcher Stacy Birk was called into action Tuesday night, just four days after her previous start Aug. 3., a no-decision effort in Philadelphia's 16-3 loss to Akron. Birk was solid throughout her five innings of work but was unable to pick up an exhibition victory for Philadelphia, as the Force lost, 6-4, to Rockford at ECTB Stadium in Allentown, Pa.
Rockford struck first, thanks to a Philadelphia passed ball that allowed Kristen Zaleski, who had singled earlier in the inning off Birk, to come home with the first run of the game. Two Force errors in the second inning allowed the Thunder to score two more runs, increasing their lead to 3-0.
Philadelphia countered in the bottom of the fourth inning, picking up its first run of the game off a single up the middle by Clare Burnum that plated pinch runner Jaime Dacey.
Birk gave up one more run in the top of the fifth inning, her final inning of work. She surrendered four runs on the night, with two of those runs being earned.
While the Force attempted a comeback in the bottom of the fifth, cutting the Thunder lead to two (4-2) thanks to the speed of Sharonda McDonald and her thievery on the base paths, Philadelphia was unable to bail Birk out of the loss. After Rockford scored twice in the top of the seventh inning to increase its lead to 6-2, Philadelphia came back with two runs in the bottom of the seventh, bringing the score to 6-4, where the game ended in favor of the Thunder.
While the box score read a loss for Birk, in reality, her season record remained at 2-6 thanks to a quirk in the NPF league schedule that allowed the Force and Thunder to play a two-game exhibition series Monday and Tuesday.
At 19-17 this season, with just eight games remaining on the league slate, Philadelphia is currently tied for last place with the New England Riptide in what is shaping up to be a very tight race for the NPF league playoffs. Philadelphia and New England each stand at just two losses back from a third-place position in the league standings.
Looking to make a final push toward the NPF league playoffs, Birk and Philadelphia will return to regular league action Wednesday when they start a four-game set with the Michigan Ice. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. CDT from ECTB Stadium in Allentown, Pa.
