Brakettes Prep for Tourney with Two Wins at Patriettes

July 1, 2011 - The Stratford Brakettes captured a doubleheader from the Allentown Patriettes Friday night at Patriots' Park in Allentown, PA. Stratord took the first game 9-0 and the nightcap 14-0 to improve to 22-0, as Stephanie Call continued her homer onslaught with a long ball in both games. Carly Normandin added an inside-the-parker in the late game.

Call’s two home runs give her 13 through just 22 games and move her closer to the single-season record of 15 held by her teammate, Denise Denis, as well as Germaine Fairchild and Brakettes’ career record-holder Pat Dufficy.

Rachele Fico struck out 10 Patriettes in the early contest, giving up just two singles and a walk in six innings. She improved to 9-0 on the season.

Brandice Balschmiter fanned nine batters in the encore, giving up just two hits and a pair of walks. Brandice moved to 8-0 in 2011 with the win, a four-inning, run-rule shortened decision.

Ashley Waters got the ball rolling in the top of the first in the early game, reaching base on a single. Denis followed with a walk to put two on for Call.

Call drilled a homer that cleared the 16-foot billboard in left-center field that sits on the 250-foot fence. The mammoth blast put the Brakettes up 3-0, giving Fico all the help she would need.

Alisa Heronema kept the pressure on the Patriettes in the second inning, when she reached on a bunt single and stole second. Waters brought Heronema home with a double for a 4-0 lead, and then scored on an RBI single by Denis.

Alex MacLean kept the Brakettes guessing in the third, fourth and fifth innings, holding Stratford scoreless for the stretch. The Brakettes would not be held down for long, as they burst out in the sixth inning for four more runs.

Heronema led off with a double, the third of her three hits, and scored on a base hit by Normandin. Denis added a triple to plate Normandin for a 7-0 score. Denis came home to score on a sac fly by Mandie Fishback to put Stratford up 8-0.

Call scored the Brakettes’ final run after earning a base on balls with one out. Becca Carden also walked, and Amber Radomski reached on an error to bring up Katie Bowen with the bases loaded. Bowen got plunked in the back to force in Call for a 9-0 tally.

Brittany Muthard and Sarah Seneca held the lone hits for Allentown. Sarah Seneca stole second base in the sixth after reaching on a two-out, two-strike bunt single. She also had a steal in the late game after earning a walk, while Lauren Seneca worked a walk in the first game.

The only Patriettes to hit safely in the second contest were Jackie Wear and Krista Amman, as both players picked up infield singles. Amanda Damiano earned a base on balls in the third inning and moved up on Wear’s infield single. Balschmiter then struck out Sarah Seneca with runners at first and second to end the Patriettes’ attempted rally.

The Brakettes put the second game away before the Patriettes would even come to bat, scoring seven first-inning runs. The team sent 12 batters to the plate, as the first nine reached base safely.

Normandin led off with a single and moved up on a base hit by Waters. Denis drove a single to left that was misplayed and bounced to the wall. Normandin would have scored anyway, but the error also sent Waters across the plate and Denis to third.After back-to-back walks to Call and Fishback, Kristyn Sandberg ripped a two-run single for a 4-0 lead.

Carden roped a single to right for another run, and then Katie Bowen delivered a two-run single up the middle to close out the top of the first inning with a 7-0 advantage.

Call smashed yet another tape-measure shot in the second inning, leading off the frame with a towering blast over a different 16-foot billboard in dead centerfield. Fishback followed with a triple to right, scoring soon after on a double by Sandberg.

Sandberg moved to third on a fly out by Carden and scored on a sac fly off Bowen’s bat. The Brakettes’ lead would stand at 10-0 until the fourth.

Carly Normandin ripped her fourth homer of 2011 over the head of the right fielder, racing around the bases for an inside-the-parker. The homer scored Sandberg and Bowen, who had both singled. Waters lined a base hit to left and scored on the play when the ball went under the outfielder’s glove.

Waters’ trip around the bases put Stratford up 14-0. After Balschmiter struck out the side in the home fourth, the game was called after four innings due to the run-rule.

The Brakettes will play the Black Widows Saturday morning in the Lyons Ballfield Fourth of July Tournament, followed by three more round-robin, pool-play games during the day. The results of Saturday will determine pairings for Sunday’s double-elimination play.

All Brakettes’ games on the PA road trip will be audio webcast at brakettes.com. There will NOT be a video feed for the tournament.