Bowling Green State University Athletics
Amy Kyler Throws Perfect Game
July 18, 2001 | Softball
July 18, 2001
Bowling Green State University softball assistant coach Amy Kyler threw a perfect game Saturday (July 14) as the Women's Pro Softball League 2001 Tour of Fastpitch Champions continued. Kyler, competing for the WPSL All-Stars, retired 21 consecutive members of the Chicago White Sox All-Stars in a 7-0 win in Rockford, Ill.
The perfect game was Kyler's second no-hitter in less than a month. On June 17, she no-hit the WPSL Blue Team in a 1-0 win in Los Angeles, Calif. That game has been televised several times on ESPN.
The nationwide tour is part of the WPSL's expansion plan to re-launch the league in six to eight markets in 2002. The centerpiece of the tour are the WPSL Gold Team, comprised of 2000 Sydney Olympians from both the U.S. and international teams, along with the WPSL All-Star Team. The latter team is comprised of the top WPSL league-wide talent. From June through August, these teams are part of a 14-city tour, playing head-to-head games as well as taking on international teams and other all-star squads. Ten games of the tour are being televised, eight on ESPN2 and two on ESPN.
Kyler has played in the WPSL in each of the first four years of the league's existence (1997-2000), spending two seasons each with the Carolina Diamonds and Akron Racers.
In Los Angeles last month, Kyler's team got just one run and one hit, but that was all she needed as she threw her first professional career no-hitter. The game's lone run came as Kim Maher opened the bottom of the second inning with a double down the left-field line for the All-Stars. She advanced to third on an error and scored on a wild pitch.
The games were the first of the season for the WPSL teams at the 40-feet pitching distance.
"I went out there with the attitude of just giving it all I had," Kyler said. "We have not been practicing at 40 feet, so I just went out there and threw all I could. I never looked at the scoreboard, and tried to keep my mind completely focused on the task at hand.
"My speed helped me quite a bit. I also felt very strong and in control. I had been pitching quite a lot, and I felt like I was `on' that day. I was able to get in a groove. It was a good feeling."
Kyler faced just two batters over the minimum in that game. One USA Blue baserunner came via a first-inning walk, and the other came on a sixth-inning error. Kyler struck out seven in the win.
Saturday, Kyler was nothing short of dominant. She struck out 14 batters and did not allow a ball to leave the infield. Five of the other seven outs came on infield grounders, while the other two outs came via popups.
After getting the first three batters to ground the ball back to her, Kyler struck out 14 of the next 18 batters. She fanned 10 of the game's last 11 batters, including nine consecutive batters at one point. A crowd of nearly 1,500 saw the WPSL All-Stars pound out eight hits and score seven times.
"Marty (Laudato) caught a great game tonight," Kyler said. "I just hit my spots well and threw as hard as I could. I was not thinking about the perfect game. I was just taking it inning by inning and pitch by pitch."
Kyler said a swarm of moths helped to keep her from feeling the pressure of a perfect game in progress.
"The bugs all over the field kept our entire team relaxed," she said. "We were laughing the entire game. Any time I prepared to make a pitch or field a grounder, I had to concentrate on keeping my mouth closed to avoid swallowing a moth. It is difficult to be nervous with circumstances like that."
This summer, Kyler has a 3-3 record and a 3.12 ERA as the WPSL All-Stars have gone 5-8-1 to date. Kyler has pitched in 11 games, starting six, and has thrown five complete games. She has one save, and has walked 18 batters and fanned 41 in 57 2/3 innings. Kyler has allowed opponents to bat just .161.
"The tour is going well," Kyler said. "There has been a great deal of interest in the cities where we've played so far."
Kyler's WPSL All-Stars are next in action July 31, taking on the Gold Team at Plant City Stadium in Plant City, Fla. In fact, all of the seven remaining games for the All-Stars are against the Gold Team, culminating with three games at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio, August 17-18.
Kyler, BGSU head coach Leigh Ross-Shaw and the Falcon softball squad went 35-19 in 2001. The Falcons won the Mid-American Conference's East Division with a 19-5 league record as Ross-Shaw was named MAC Coach of the Year.
(Some information taken from WPSL site [www.prosoftball.com] and National Fastpitch Coaches Association site [www.nfca.org])
