Brakettes #1 Seed for Sunday's Elimination Play

July 2, 2011 - The Stratford Brakettes finished pool play undefeated in the Lyons Ballfield 4th of July Tournament with two afternoon victories against Pennsylvania clubs. Stratford beat the Central PA Krunch 5-0 and the Diamondbacks 6-0 to complete a four-game sweep.

With the top seed solidified, the Brakettes are set to take on the winner of the #8-#9 game at 10:00 am at Lyons Ballfield on Sunday.

The Brakettes got on the board against the Central PA Krunch in the 2:00 matchup on Saturday with an unearned run in the second inning. Mandie Fishback reached on an error and scored on a single by Kristyn Sandberg, but Stratford would not crack the score board again until the fourth.

Stephanie Call led off the fourth inning with a walk and was pinch-run for by Stacey Lajoie. Lajoie stole second base to put a runner in scoring position. Fishback followed with a triple to score Lajoie for a 2-0 lead.

With two outs, Katie Bowen ripped a triple to score Sandberg, putting Stratford up 3-0. Normandin provided the last run for the Brakettes with an RBI single, scoring Bowen for a 5-0 edge.

Brandice Balschmiter improved to 10-0 with her second victory of the day, striking out ten and giving up just one hit and hitting a batter. She retired the last 16 Krunch batters she faced. Jackie Martinez led off the game with the Krunch’s only hit, as Balschmiter dominated throughout.

Stratford closed out the hot and long day of softball at 5:30 against the Diamondbacks of the Harrisburg, PA area.

Janelle Mirakovitch pitched well against the Brakettes, holding them scoreless until the third inning.

Melissa Mancuso led off the third with a single and went to second on a base hit by Alisa Heronema. Both players moved up a base on an error and would later come home to give Stratford a 2-0 advantage. Mancuso scored on a sac fly by Normandin and Heronema raced home on a single by Ashley Waters.

Denise Denis singled to begin the sixth and went to second on a base hit by Call. Lajoie again pinch-ran for Call and both runners moved up on a walk by Fishback. Sandberg launched a sac fly to score Denis for a 3-0 margin and push Lajoie and Fishback up a bag.

Becca Carden stretched the lead to 4-0 with an RBI single to score Lajoie, bringing up Melissa Mancuso. Carden took off for second to draw a throw, which allowed Fishback to race home. The double steal was successful as the ball was bobbled at second, putting the Brakettes up 6-0.

Rachele Fico improved to 11-0 in the last game, as she picked up her second win of the day. She struck out 12 and gave up two singles and a pair of walks.

Sarah Romano and Ashley Stoner picked up the Diamondbacks’ only hits, with Mirakovitch and Rebecca Taylor reaching base on walks.

The Brakettes will play at 10:00 on Lyons Ballfield #1 in a single-elimination, quarter-final matchup. All remaining Brakettes’ games at the 4th of July Tournament will be broadcast (AUDIO ONLY) at brakettes.com.