Hastings burning speed ignites Diamonds in first home win

KC Diamonds left fielder Lexi Hastings laid out for a foul ball early in the game. She couldn’t quite corral it, but her all-out effort set the tone for the game.

The Kansas City Diamonds handed the Florida Vibe a two-run head start Wednesday night, then chased the game down with a late-inning rally. Left fielder Lexi Hastings ran her team back into the game and then out in front, capping a four-run fifth inning with a two-run triple that carried the Diamonds to a 5-3 win at Legends Field, the first home victory in franchise history.

The win, before a home-opener crowd of 4,424, lifted Kansas City to 3-1 to start its inaugural season. Hastings told reporters at media day exactly what to watch for. “Speed’s my game,” she said, and on Wednesday she backed it up with an all-out chase in foul ground, a swinging-bunt single, a stolen-base attempt, and the triple that put the Diamonds ahead to stay. The crowd, she said afterward, made it easy. “It feels so electric, and the only thing I can compare it to is the World Series.”

Diamonds catcher Leah Boggs, right, had some encouraging words for her shaky starting pitcher Hope Valdespino in the first inning.

A rough first inning

The Vibe took advantage of starter Hope Valdespino’s early control issues right away. A hit batter, a soft single to center, and a second hit batter loaded the bases with one out. Florida pushed across a run on a sacrifice fly to right, where right fielder Rachel Roupe chased it down with a leaping catch, and a second run crossed on a hard grounder that handcuffed third base for the Diamonds’ lone error. Florida led 2-0.

Hastings flashed her speed in the field, laying out in foul territory in left in a bid to end the inning. She couldn’t quite put the squeeze on it, but the effort impressed the crowd and set the tone for the home side. Fortunately Valdespino found her footing, allowing just one more run the rest of the way and finishing with six innings of three-hit ball on 96 pitches to improve to 2-0.

The game-winning pitcher spread the credit, starting with catcher Leah Boggs. “Kudos to Leah my catcher,” she said. “She’s been holding me on the end of this.” The shaky start, she said, did not rattle her. “After the first inning, look at the people around me and do it for them, and I was able to lock in.”

Lexi Hastings slapped a swinging bunt through the infield.

Hastings shows power, speed in rally

Kansas City managed only a handful of base runners through four innings and still trailed 2-0. The fifth turned the night around. Hailey Cripe, former Jayhawk, drew a leadoff walk, and after a strikeout, Roupe doubled her home to right-center to cut the deficit to 2-1. Leah Boggs followed with a single to center, advancing on a throw, to give the Diamonds runners on second and third with one out.

With the table set, Hastings turned on a pitch and lined it to right, over the right fielder’s head, and never slowed down. She pulled into third with a two-run triple that scored Roupe and Boggs and gave the Diamonds their first lead, 3-2. Riley Blampied followed with a sacrifice fly to the right-field wall to bring Hastings home, and Kansas City led 4-2. Hastings went 2-for-2 with two RBIs, and Roupe 2-for-3 with two more.

The triple was more of the same aggressive base running Hastings showed in the third, when she beat out a swinging bunt up the middle, then tested the Florida defense with a steal attempt. She was thrown out that time, but her intent on the basepaths never changed.

Diamonds shortstop Ava Kuszak fielded a grounder.

Defense is about “we”

Florida answered with a run in the sixth, and Kansas City restored its two-run cushion in the bottom half on Roupe’s two-out single to left, which scored pinch-runner Alex Brown for Roupe’s second RBI of the night. Closer Kasey Ricard took the ball in the seventh and worked around a leadoff infield single to nail down the 5-3 win. The Diamonds held the Vibe to five hits and committed just the one early error while making the plays behind their pitching.

General Manager Mickey Dean traced the performance to a morning the team spent on defense instead of hitting. “The word ‘me’ is about hitting, the word ‘me’ is about pitching, but defense is about ‘we,'” Dean said. Despite Valdespino’s early troubles, Dean didn’t worry about his pitcher. “I feel sorry for the batters, I really do,” he said of the right-hander’s nasty movement on her pitches.

The KCK Diamond Dolls dance group performed before the game.

Here to stay

For Kansas City’s first professional softball team, the night meant more than the final score. Hastings pointed to the women who came before her. “There’s so many people that came before this, and so much work that gets put in,” she said. “The work does not go unnoticed.”

Valdespino put it plainly. Women’s sports, she said, “is here to stay, and we’re excited about that fact.”

Hastings promised the Diamonds were only warming up. “We’re only getting started, and we’re going to continue to have a lot of fun,” she said.

Kansas City and Florida meet again Thursday at Legends Field, with first pitch set for 6:35 p.m. Their four-game series runs through Saturday.