Brakettes Prep for St. Louis with 5-0 Win over All-Stars

June 16, 2011 - The Stratford Brakettes defeated the CT High School All-Stars Thursday night at DeLuca Field, securing a 5-0 victory with the help of Rachele Fico and Steffi Call. The annual nine-inning contest served as a warm-up for the Brakettes before a six-day road trip to St. Louis.

Fico struck out 11 in five perfect innings to claim the win, stifling the All-Star batters and not allowing a ball out of the infield. Call fared well at the plate and on the mound, smacking her fourth homer in the third inning and pitching well in relief. She came on in the sixth and fanned five over the last four innings. She allowed just one hit and a pair of walks.

The Brakettes got on the board in the second, when Call reached on a dropped third strike. She was pinch-run for by Katie Bowen, who then moved to second on a sac bunt by Mandie Fishback. Becca Carden lined a single to right field to score Bowen, giving Stratford a 1-0 lead.

The margin was stretched to 3-0 in the third, after Denise Denis reached on a bloop single to shallow left with two outs. Call launched a shot to right-center to extend her team-leading home run total to four, as the ball bounced all the way to the 290-foot slow pitch fence.

Stratford rounded out the scoring in the sixth inning, playing some small ball to produce two runs.

Ashley Waters led off with a single and moved to second on a comebacker to the mound by Bowen. Denis singled to right field to move Waters to third, putting runners at the corners. Call was intentionally walked to load the bases for Mandie Fishback, who did not disappoint. Fishback laced a single to score Waters and Melissa Mancuso, who served as a pinch-runner for Denis.

The 5-0 score would stand the rest of the way, as Call continued the work that Fico started in the circle.

Kate Nadler recorded two great plays in the field for the All-Stars, one at second base and another while playing third. She also earned a walk, as did Micki Keltos. The All-Stars managed just three runners on base all night.

The Brakettes were to take on the St. Louis Saints Friday night at 8 pm ET but the games were cancelled due to severe weather. The double-header would have served as a rematch of last year’s Women’s Major Softball National Championship in West Haven, CT, won by the Brakettes. Stratford will stay in St. Louis through Wednesday, June 22nd, and will participate in the 46th Annual St. Louis Saints Invitational over the weekend.

The Brakettes will play four round-robin games in the St. Louis Invitational on Saturday. The Brakettes will begin play at 11:45 against the East Peoria (IL) Rage and will take on the Bloomington (IL) Lady Hearts at 1:30. After a short break, the Brakettes will face the Travelers of McLure, Missouri at 5:00 and the Lady Angels of Bloomington, IL at 6:45.

There are nine teams in the tournament, all of which will play Sunday, with the two lowest-seeded teams playing an extra game to reach the quarterfinals.

All Brakettes games from this weekend will be broadcast at brakettes.com. Due to limited internet availability, the games will be an audio-only.