I have watched the Pride about fifteen times, and the Bandits about ten. The only thing that makes the Bandits competitive is Abbott. She is THE ace of the league right now. Ricketts is probably #2, but the Pride hitters can't hit Monica. In the recent series, Abbott and Ricketts dueled for eight innings with Ricketts having more strikeouts and fewer hits (5-1). But, with two outs in the ninth, an infield hit (error), a single, and a home run by Tay Edwards won the game for Chicago, 3-0. In the next game for each Abbott and Ricketts, it was again Abbott vs Ricketts in the series finale. In that game, Tay Edwards hit a three-run home run in the first, and Chicago won again, 4-0 (Henderson hit one in the seventh). The Pride didn't score against Abbott.
Lauren got in the habit of taking pitches this year that she should have hit, like she was getting a lot of walks. Well, you don't get a lot of walks in the pros, and a 3-0 count is not a huge disadvantage against a control pitcher, which all of them are. Lauren has to learn to swing at the first good pitch she sees. It may be the only good pitch she sees.
There is a little bit larger strike zone. But, it is also different. In college, there is a tendency to give the outside corner. In the pros, there seems to be a tendency to give the inside corner. Lauren takes all of these, and they are always strikes. She has stopped swinging at rise balls which were giving her a problem. Both Shelby and Lauren have to learn that if a pitch is over the plate with two strikes, it is always a changeup, and they really do mean a speed change. A couple throw it up there so slowly that you might hit it on the backswing. Lauren is settling down a bit. It's about time. There are only three games left in the Pride regular season.
haha jk!