March 14th, 2015 – Richmond, CA
Despite their intense rivalry, the Oakland Outlaws have only beat the Richmond Wrecking Belles once before, and that was in 2013. A lot of the rivalry stems from how close their recent scraps have been. Last season, the Belles won both of their games against the Oakland Outlaws by just three points each time. The Outlaws retaliated in the first game of the 2015 season by eking out an ever-so-slightly larger four point win against their most heated rivals with a final score of 131 – 127. Regardless of roster changes on both sides, fans and players alike were sure that the first match-up between these two teams of the 2015 season was going to be intense.
To start the game, Huck Sinn took the line for the Outlaws and Eva Menace for the Belles. Huck took lead and called after a quick two points. Next up, Abombinatrix was forced to pass the star to her pivot Demanda Riot to stop the bleeding as Colt 45 had lead and two grand slams. With a 15 – 0 Outlaw lead going into the fifth jam and a power jam start for Colt, the Belles’ defense went into lock-down mode and the formidable wall of Little Miss Masochist, Liza Machete, and Demanda were able to contain Colt for the full 30 seconds until Eva was freed from the penalty box and awarded lead jammer. Eva picked up four points and called the jam. In the eighth jam, Thin Lizzy was awarded lead jammer for the Belles but Murderyn Monroe forced a cut on Lizzy’s first scoring pass, which gave Colt a power jam. The twominute jam ended with 14 points for Colt and two for Lizzy with a game total of 35 – 6 for the Outlaws.
The Belles wisely called a timeout to regroup. Eva took the jam star for the Belles after the timeout and was able to pick up lead jammer while the Outlaw’s Scratcher in the Eye was sent off for a cut track slyly pulled by Skatelyn . Eva scored ten unanswered points and called the jam before Scratcher was freed from the penalty box, bringing the score to 35 – 16 Outlaws. In the 14th jam, despite a Belles blocker advantage, Huck quickly grabbed lead over Belles jammer Val Curry. Though the Outlaws had only Jane Hammer, Bully Elliott, and Fatal Dreidel on the track, they were able to hold Curry until Huck returned for a grand slam. Huck was only able to score five after being unable to escape a solid wall of Biggie Brawls, Demanda, Little Miss Masochist, and Kutya Cackoff. The score stood at 49 – 17 for the Outlaws. In the next jam, Lizzy got lead jammer over Scratcher by taking the outside line and was able to pick up three very quick points as Hazel Raw and Hammer were called off on penalties and brought the score a little closer at 50 – 20 Outlaws.
The Outlaws ran into a little penalty trouble in the 18th jam with only 10 minutes left in the half which gave the Belles, who were on a three jam streak of lead jammer calls, a chance to narrow the gap. Starting off with just two blockers to the Belles’ four, Colt was called off for a penalty as soon as she hit the pack and A-bomb was able to juke past Dual Hitizen and Imelda Snarkos on the outside for lead. A-bomb scored nine points and called the jam. The Belles chipped away at Oakland’s lead and held them scoreless over the next three jams, and with back to back lead jams, were able to pull the score in a little closer to 52 – 35. But Colt went on a power jam over A-bomb in the 22nd jam and was able to pick up a whopping 20 unanswered points with some offensive help from Murderyn and Dual. The score going into the last four minutes of the half was 72 – 35, Oakland’s largest lead of the night. Curry scored a 15 –0 jam of her own on a power jam over Huck to retaliate and bring the score to 72 – 54. With both teams thoroughly exhausted, it took a full minute before Lizzy was able to escape the pack after an unsuccessful star pass. Although Lizzy was not lead, Colt was still stuck in the pack on her initial pass behind Liza, Demanda, and Stace Odyssey. The jam ended after two minutes and Lizzy picked up ten points to bring the halftime score to 72 – 64 Outlaws, the closest score differential since the second jam of the night.
To start off the second half, Eva roared out of the pack with lead jammer over Huck and called it 4 – 0 to bring the score to 72 – 68 Outlaws. In the third jam, Curry and Scratcher both struggled and neither jammer had finished her initial pass after the first minute. Curry passed the star to pivot Demanda, who picked up ten points. Scratcher was able to put up three points and suddenly, with a score of 79 – 78, it was a one point game in favor of the Outlaws. Not willing to give up their lead, Huck was awarded lead jammer over Eva in the next jam and put up a grand slam to pull ahead again, 84 – 78. In the seventh jam of the second half, Eva was awarded lead but was re-engaged by Oakland blocker Sheer Luxe and taken down at turn two, giving Huck enough time to catch up and beat Eva out of the pack. Huck attempted to play a little jammer on jammer defense but Eva shook her off. Huck was so quick to get back on her feet, she was still able to put up four points as Eva scored two and called, 96 – 80 Outlaws. In the next jam, Colt was sent off to the penalty box and A-bomb scored five points. With the score at 96 – 85, and Lizzy being sent off for blocking with her head during her first scoring pass, Oakland jammer Scratcher passed the star to a surprised Murderyn who brought the score to 105– 90 after the back to back power jams for both teams. But in the tenth jam, a little confusion led to an early call off. Outlaw jammer Huck was on a power jam over Eva. As the referee called a forearm penalty on Demanda , Huck thought the penalty was hers and headed to the box. The referees called the jam as Eva was sprung from the box on error. Eva started off the next jam in the box but wasn’t there for long as Colt was immediately sent off for a cut track. Eva picked up lead after leaving the box and scored nine points before calling, leaving the score at 110 – 99 Outlaws. In the 13th jam of the second half, more penalty trouble plagued the Outlaws as A-bomb was awarded lead and scored eight points as Scratcher was sent off.
With ten minutes left in the game, the Outlaws started off on a power jam with Colt on the line and Lizzy starting in the box. The Belles killed the first twenty seconds of the power jam with excellent bridging defense by Little Miss Masochist, Demanda, and Skatelyn but Colt was able to get five before calling. After six lead jam calls in a row, the Outlaws were able to hold the Belles off the scoreboard and tack on a few points. Going in to the 21st jam of the second half and with just four minutes left, the Outlaws held the lead with 128 – 108. Curry broke the Belles drought and got lead jammer over Scratcher and picked up three points. Curry called off the jam and then immediately threw her hands up in dismay when she saw that Scratcher was still held on her initial pass by Biggie and Liza. With just three minutes left, the Belles called a time out. In the next jam, Eva had a power jam over Colt 45. On Eva’s first scoring pass, the Outlaws lost two blockers to penalty, and Eva called with Colt still in the box. With the score at 128 –116 Outlaws, Lizzy took the line for a power start for the Belles. Lizzy flew through the remaining twoOutlaw blockers three times for a nine point jam. With just one minute left to play, the Outlaws had a 128 – 125 lead.
The Outlaws called a time out and both teams huddled up to discuss what might be the final jam. Huck took the line for Oakland, with the blocker advantage, and Eva for Richmond. Eva grabbed lead but, with Huck right behind her, Eva called after picking up two points to the Outlaw’s three. With the score at 131 – 127 Outlaws and just seconds on the clock, Scratcher took the line for the Outlaws and Lizzy for the Belles. Scratcher pushed the Belles’ wall forward for lead while Lizzy was still stuck in the back despite Liza calling for a star pass. Scratcher called the jam as the time ran out and the Outlaws took the win with a final score of 131 – 127.
Colt 45 shone in her first game as an Outlaw with 64 points in 16 jams, the most points scored by a single player in this bout. Although she averaged a clean four points per jam, it was an uphill battle at times as Colt racked up four penalties overall. Veteran player and Outlaw coach Huck Sinn also jammed 16 times and picked up 36 points. Scratcher in the Eye scored 17 points in 15 jams and Mary Prankster, fielded as a relief jammer, scored 5 points in 3 jams. During the Outlaw’s only successful attempt at a star pass, pivot Murderyn Monroe picked up nine points to the delight of the crowd.
For the Belles, former veteran blocker turned dedicated jammer and team captain Eva Menace was the high scorer with 44 points in 17 jams. The Belles fielded a few more players on the jam line than their opponents and the scoring was spread out amongst the remaining five. Leading the herd was Thin Lizzy with 31 points, Abominatrix with 21, and Val Curry with 18. Also contributing to the tally were Demanda Riot with ten points and Sterling ArcHer with three.
Penalty wise, like the final score, both teams were about even. The Outlaws had 33 penalties to the Belles 30. The Outlaws had seven jammer penalties compared to the Belles five. Oakland’s Hazel Raw was the most penalized player with seven while the Belle’s Little Miss Masochist was right behind her with six. At the half, Oakland actually had double the penalties with 22 and Richmond with 11.
The Wrecking Belles seemingly relied on their core blockers for the majority of the game. Skatelyn had the most playing time of any player as she went in for 35 of 50 jams which amounted to 70 % of the game. Behind her were Demanda Riot and Liza Machete with 32 and 31 shifts respectively. For the Outlaws, the work was spread out a little more. The most played Outlaw was Murderyn Monroe with 29 jams. Behind her were her Hazel Raw and Jane Hammer with 27 shifts each.
The Wrecking Belles will be traveling to Las Vegas to play the Sin City Roller Girls on April 18th. Keep an eye on our website for more upcoming bouts.
