Brakettes Win First, Drop Second Game Friday; Must Win Five In A Row For Championship

July 27, 2007 - The Brakettes won their Winner’s Bracket quarter-final matchup against the New Jersey Elite Friday afternoon 11-0, but lost their semi-final against the defending champion Virginia Legends, by a 3-0 margin. The ASA 23-and-under National Championships continue Saturday, with the Brakettes needing to win five games in a row to capture the crown.

In the afternoon contest, the Brakettes’ bats woke up for a nine-run fifth inning, allowing the Brakettes to shorten the game to five innings via mercy rule. The Brakettes were scoreless after two innings, but took the lead in the third as Denise Denis’ triple scored Beth Boden. Boden led off the inning with a single, and was 3-for-3 for the game with two runs scored.

The Brakettes scored another run in the fourth, when Killian Roessner came home on a single by Boden. Roessner hit a one-out single, and was moved to third on a base hit by Whitney Mollica.

The nine-run fifth was started by Sari-Jane Jenkins, who reached safely on a bunt single. She went to second on a throwing error by the shortstop. Jenkins had three hits and scored twice. Denise Denis also bunted for a hit, and Jenkins took third. As the Elite tried to get the lead runner, Denis took second base on the toss to third. When an attempt was made to get Denis at second, Jenkins marched home on the throw with the Brakettes’ third run. Mandie Fishback doubled home Denis to take a 4-0 lead, and moved to third on Courtney Bures’ single. Fishback scored, and Bures took third on Roessner’s RBI single, and the Brakettes were up 5-0. Dani Woods then lined a double to score Bures, and Roessner moved to third. Mollica lofted a sac fly to right to plate Roessner, and the score was 7-0.

Boden brought home Woods with a double, bringing the lead to 8-0. Joanna Gail walked, bringing up Jenkins for the second time in the inning. Jenkins singled and drove in Boden from second. Denis grounded out to first for the second out, pushing both runners up a bag, and Fishback laced a single to score both Gail and Jenkins. The Brakettes closed the inning having brought 13 batters to the plate, and the 11-0 score stood as a final when Candice Freel retired the Elite in the bottom of the fifth.

Freel struck out six in five innings, allowing just a single in the fifth. She improved to 21-1 on the season. Freel showed great control, only walking the first batter of the game, who was erased on a double play.

The night game pitted the Brakettes against the Virginia Legends, who rode a 4-0 record to the championship last year. Two consensus First-Team All-Americans started on the mound, Katie Burkhart for the Brakettes, and Angela Tincher for the Legends.

It was a scoreless tie until the fifth inning, when Nicole Kajitani reached base on a two-out single. Jennifer Yee followed with a triple right field, plating Kajitani, and breaking the stalemate. Tonya Callahan then doubled home Yee, and the Legends were up 2-0.

The Brakettes struggled at the plate against Tincher, who had nine strikeouts. Tincher took the loss in pool play the previous day against the Frozen Ropes, who will play the Legends in the Winner’s Bracket Final Saturday afternoon at 1:00. Tincher’s six walks against the Legends were replaced by a lone harmless walk to Denis in the first. Denis was the only Brakette base runner until the fourth, when Bures would single. Tincher scattered two more hits for the night, never allowing the Brakettes to advance past second base.

The Legends picked up insurance run in the seventh, when Yee singled home Erin Dudley. Burkhart allowed ten hits on the night, as she was handed her first loss of the season, dropping to 6-1. She managed to fan five batters, and walked one.

The Brakettes will the Classics in a 9 a.m. elimination game Saturday. To win the championship, the Brakettes would have to win three more after that on Saturday to force a possible “if” game on Sunday morning. All games from the ASA 23-and-under National Tournament will be broadcast here at www.brakettes.com.