Chicago Bandits win back-to-back NPF championships

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Chicago Bandits came into Game 3 of the National Pro Fastpitch Championship on Tuesday night looking for back-back titles over their rival, the USSSA Pride.

Call it coincidence or call it irony, the Bandits used back-to-back home runs in the third inning to get what they came for, a 2-1 win, a fourth Cowles Cup and a confetti celebration on the field at Rhoads Stadium on the campus of the University of Alabama.

In keeping the back-to-back theme, for the second consecutive night, Taylor Edwards hit a solo home run in the third inning to give the Bandits an early edge. Not to be outdone, Brittany Cervantes followed suit with a solo homer of her own as Chicago got all the offense it needed. For Cervantes, it was her third of the Championship to go along with a .500 batting average and six RBIs, garnering her MVP honors.

“Honestly, it was a black-out moment,” Cervantes said of what would be the game-winning homer. “Swing the bat and hit the ball was all it was.”

Bandits starter April Bunner, 2-0, was not dominant, but she did everything right in scattering eight hits and getting out of any trouble. The only blemish was a fifth-inning solo homer to 2016 Triple Crown winner Kelly Kretschman, who took a 1-0 pitch out to right-center field. It was Kretschman’s first home run of the Championship after hitting 13 during the regular season.

Bunner was not even on the team when the season started, having missed all of last season and being waived by the Pennsylvania Rebellion. She joined the club as the Bandits were looking for help to replace their ace from last year, Monica Abbott. Abbott had been signed by the expansion Scrap Yard Dawgs for the first million-dollar contract in NPF …

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