Brakettes Luck Out with Late Rally

June 4, 2011 - The Stratford Brakettes avoided another upset at the hands of the Newtown Rock Saturday night at DeLuca Field, scoring three runs in the seventh inning of the late game to win 4-3. The Brakettes won the first game 6-0.

The fiery 18-U Gold team from Pennsylvania were an out away from beating the Brakettes exactly one year after their 7-3, Opening Night win in the second game of the doubleheader on June 4th, 2010. The Rock led 3-1 going into the seventh last night, but a wild rally capped off the evening sweep for Stratford. The Brakettes (4-0) extended their winning streak to 60 games.

Brandice Balschmiter (2-0) went four innings in the early matchup, striking out six. She allowed two hits and a pair of walks. Manager John Stratton wanted to get Stephanie Call some innings on the mound, so he used her to pitch the last three frames of both games against the Rock.

Stratford broke a scoreless stalemate in the third inning, scoring three runs off Susan Wysocki. Carly Normandin walked and stole second base. She moved to third on a single by Ashley Waters. Denise Denis then walked to load the bases, bringing Call to the plate. A wild pitch sent Normandin home for the first run and allowed the other runners to move up a base.

After a 15-pitch battle between Call and Wysocki, Call looped a two-run single to right, scoring Waters and Denis for a 3-0 lead.

Alisa Heronema scored in the fourth inning after leading off with a single. Normandin doubled to bring her home, giving Call a 4-0 lead when she took over for Balschmiter in the fifth. Call struck out four batters and allowed two hits in her pitching debut after an impressive offensive display on Opening Night.

The Brakettes added two more runs in the sixth. Normandin started things off with a single, and both Waters and Denis walked to load the bases. Call was hit by a pitch, sending Normandin home for the fifth run. Waters was then forced out at home on a grounder by Jordan Paolucci, which allowed Denis to head to third. Mandie Fishback reached on a fielder’s choice to score Denis, closing out the scoring at 6-0.

The Rock struck first in the late game, as Lauren Gaskill led off the first with a single off Rachele Fico. Gaskill stole both second and third, then scored when Paolucci’s throw to third sailed between third baseman Monica Mancuso and shortstop Fishback, both converging on the bag.

The Brakettes tied it up in the fourth on a sac fly to left by Paolucci. Waters scored the run after a leadoff single. She went to second on a grounder and moved to third on a wild pitch.

The Rock again gained control in the fifth, scoring two runs off Call, who replaced Fico that inning. Brittany Garvey walked with two outs, and Ashley Black singled to bring up Gaskill once more. Gaskill responded with a two-run triple, providing a 3-1 cushion for Newtown.

The Brakettes' seventh-inning rally was started by Fishback’s leadoff single. Mancuso singled down the line in right field, and Fishback scampered over to third on the play. When the throw went to third base, Mancuso moved up to second, giving the Brakettes two in scoring position with no one out.

Heronema grounded to the right side and first baseman Ashley Alden was able to keep the runners where they were as she fielded the ball and stepped on first. Katie Bowen reached base on a grounder deep to shortstop Julie Wambold, who elected not to throw to first to keep the runners put.

Mariel Schlaefer hit a grounder to third, which kicked off Garvey’s glove. Fishback scored on the play to pull the Brakettes within 3-2, bringing up the Normandin with the bases loaded and one out. Normandin also grounded at third, and Garvey’s throw was in time to force out Mancuso at home.

Ashley Waters came up with the Brakettes down to their last out and grounded hard to the right side. When the ball kick away from Dee Devine at second, Bowen and Schlaefer raced home to win 4-3.

The hard-luck loss for the Rock left them on the field as the Brakettes celebrated the unlikely comeback.

The Brakettes will take on the Rock again on Sunday afternoon at 4:00, followed by a 6:00 game against the Stratford Seahawks. The Seahawks and Rock will meet at 2:00 in the first game of a round robin, triple-header.