New York Heights v San Francisco Firebells Recap 8/6/2026

The New York Heights and San Francisco Firebells met for the first time in the Women’s Professional Baseball League (WPBL) last night. It was a scoreless first inning and a half of the game with Liz Gilder working around an error, and Jaida Lee getting the Firebells out 1–2-3. The Firebells would break the ice in the bottom of the second inning with a run scoring on a wild pitch after a single and then a sacrifice bunt and error. In the top half of the third the New York Heights would respond with 3 runs of their own with an RBI single from Denae Benites and a 2-run single from Kylee Lahners. Then the Heights would score four more runs in the 4th inning with a run scoring on an error, an RBI single, a bases loaded walk, and a sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the fourth inning the Firebells would start to claw their way back with a run scoring on an error by Keira Izumi over at second base, and a run scoring on an RBI groundout. Those two runs were immediately answered with 2 runs scored by the Heights thanks to a two-run single scored by Diana Ibarra. In the sixth, the New York Heights would add on four more runs on a pair of home runs one from Keira Izumi which was her first home run in her WPBL career, and a three run home run by Denae Benites which was her second her second home run in as many games. In the bottom of the sixth the Firebells would chip away and score five runs on a two-run double by Jill Albayati, a two-run single from Andreanne Leblanc, and a run being scored on a wild pitch. Then in the seventh Andreanne Leblanc came in and pitched a scoreless inning keeping the score right where it was at 13-8. In the bottom of the seventh, Keira Izumi would close out the game for the Heights by getting the bottom part of the order out 1-2-3 to secure the first win in New York Heights history. The player of the game was Denae Benites who went 4-5 on the game and drove in 5 runs, as well as Keira Izumi who had a very strong game going 3-4 with a walk and also pitching 1.2 innings in relief only giving up a hit in relief, Jaida Lee was also super impressive going 5.1 strong innings, giving up 4 hits, giving up 3 runs and 0 earned runs, walking two, and striking out 4 to start the game and through 104 pitches. The New York Heights improved to 1-1 on the season, while the San Francisco Firebells fell to 1-1.
Next up:
The San Francisco Firebells host the Los Angeles Queens tonight at 7:30 PM EST broadcast on ESPN+.
The New York Heights host the Boston Hunters tomorrow afternoon at 2 PM EST broadcast on ESPN+.