WPCNR PRESS BOX. Special to WPCNR from Jen Carlo. August 28, 2004 (Edited): The NY/NJ Juggernaut (2-1) looked to move into the Championship series by facing the Akron Racers (1-2) in an all-or-nothing match up at Firestone Stadium. The Scott duo proved to be the definitive force of the contest, as the Nauts edged the Racer 2-1. Amanda Scott (2-0) pitched a complete game with eight strikeouts and Courtney Scott (1-for-2) shifted the tempo of the game with one swing of her bat in the fourth inning to send a McArthur pitch over the left field fence. You can hear all the championship action Saturday night at 7 on Pro Sports Radio worldwide at http://www.npf.prosportsradio.com.

The Nauts will face the equally amazing and dangerous New England Riptide for the Championship Game One this evening, as the Riptide beat Peaches James Friday night on a three-run homer by Jess Allister in the first inning, after shocking the Thunder's Christa Williams Thursday night, 4-2 on Tara Knudson's grand slam in the first. The Riptide in their first season in New England have already shown they are not the el foldo Red Sox.

The Nauts and the Riptide have played very evenly against each other this season, their most memorable game being the 27 inning marathon in June, where Kaci Clark pitched 22 innings. The Nauts were extended to Friday's game when the Racers' Nikki Myers beat them 3-1, Thursday evening.

Rain and lightning was the first obstacle standing in the Juggernaut path,
causing over a two hour rain delay. However, it did not affect the
Juggernaut who jumped out early to take the lead in the top of the second
inning. Nauts third baseman Laura Harms (2-for-3, RBI) stepped up with her
first hit of the playoffs to score Lisa Iancin (1-for-2, R) with a hard
single to right field with two outs.

The Racers quickly answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the
third inning. Brandi Stuart (1-for-2) led off the inning with a single that
snuck past the diving Juggernaut second baseman Carri Leto and into right
field. Racer Heather Wright and advanced Stuart into scoring position with
the Racers' offensive MVP Iyah McMichael (2-for-3) coming to bat. McMichael
produced and put the Racers on the board with a single to center field to
score Stuart, tying the game at one a piece.

The spark the Juggernaut needed came with one swing in the top of the fourth
inning. Juggernaut Gina Oaks (1-for-2) led off the inning by drawing a walk.
She was moved into scoring position by a deep sacrifice fly ball by Iancin.
Coming to bat with two outs, Juggernaut C. Scott blasted a two-run home run
over the left field fence to put the Juggernaut on top, 3-1.

The Racers tried their best to not let the prior inning be their ultimate
defeat. Racer Treena Peel (1-for-3) kept her playoff hot streak going by
leading off the inning with a single. One batter later, Nicole Tromboli was
tagged out at first due to a base running error. However, heads up base
running by Peel allowed her to score while all the Juggernaut attention was
drawn to first base which allowed the Racers to pull within one.

The lead paired with the dominant performance by the Scott sister's was too
much for the Racers to overcome. With a pop out to third base as the final
out, the Juggernaut was the first team of the NPF to advance to the
Championship Series. That series will also be a three game series with the
first game scheduled for tomorrow at 7:00 pm at Firestone Stadium. The Nauts
will play the winner of the Texas Thunder/New England Riptide game.

For complete stories on all the NPF playoff games, with box scores, go to
http://www.profastpitch.com/news/?id=6116