BRAKETTES WILL HOST POLAR CRUSH AUGUST 2 IN BENEFIT FOR 2 -YEAR OLD EDDIE CORCORAN

July 19, 2007 - The Stratford Brakettes will be participating in a benefit doubleheader on Thursday, August 2 at Frank DeLuca Hall of Fame Field against the Polar Crush of Worcester, MA, beginning at 6:30 p.m. It will be the Brakettes’ final 2007 home appearance as they leave the next morning for South Bend, IN, to defend their ASA Women’s Major Fastpitch championship.

All proceeds from the game will go to the Eddie Corcoran Fund to aid a 2-year old who has never seen the Brakettes play. Eddie is the only child of Kevin and Colleen Corcoran of West Haven, who needs a bone marrow transplant for any hope of recovering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Colleen is the cousin of Stratford Brakettes General Manager Bob Baird and his wife Joy. She has had to take a leave of absence from her position as a teacher at Carrigan Middle School, while Kevin is an account manager for AT&T and has been working from the Ronald McDonald House in Boston.

“Every time we got another phone call, it was just a little further down in terms of hope,” said Kevin in a recent newspaper interview. Eddie went from a 90 percent survival rate upon an initial diagnosis of lymphoma to a 30 percent rate because of the combination of leukemia and chromosomal damage.

There is no admission charge for the doubleheader, but the Brakettes management is hopeful that fans attending the benefit will make a donation to the Eddie Corcoran Fund to help defray the monstrous medical bills that have accumulated in the past three months.

“All field staff workers and the umpires have donated their services and a check in their names will be presented to the family,” said Rob Baird, the assistant general manager of the team. “We want to get as many people in the stands as possible to see this great Brakettes team as well as help this wonderful family in their time of need. No donation is too small. Checks should be made payable to The Eddie Corcoran Fund and they may be sent to the Brakettes, c/o Bob Baird, 185 Lordship Road, Stratford, CT 06615 or dropped off at the game.”

Pitching in the twin-bill for the Brakettes will be Leslie Malerich, the wife of Rob Baird, who is returning from pitching in Italy in time to join the team for their national title defense in her home state of Indiana. Malerich, who is 39-7 with the Brakettes, hasn’t pitched at DeLuca Field since the 2005 ASA tournament as her commitments with the Italian league have kept her busy.