Brakettes Top St. Louis to Reach Title Game

August 12, 2012 - The Stratford Brakettes clinched a spot in their third-straight Women's Major Softball National Championship Game with a 9-0 Winners Bracket Final victory over the St. Louis Saints. The game took place on Sunday morning at Short Beach Park, as DeLuca Field was not yet playable due to water in the outfield.

With the six-inning victory over St. Louis, the Brakettes will now await the winner of the Losers Bracket Final. The Championship Game will be played late Sunday afternoon at DeLuca Field, giving the outfield more time to dry.

The Saints dropped down into the Losers Bracket Final after their loss to the Brakettes, but could still secure their third-straight WMS title game berth with a win over the talented Connecticut Mirage. Connecticut advanced to the contest with a 9-6 victory over the Lyons Spirit (Lyons, PA).

Rachele Fico notched eight strikeouts in securing the shutout, allowing just two hits over six innings. Fico improved to 22-1 on the season with the decision.

The Brakettes wasted little time in jumping ahead of St. Louis, as the first two batters in the top of the first would reach and score.

Alisa Heronema led off with a single and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ashley Waters, who reached due an error on the play.

Denise Denis followed and ripped a single to score Heronema for an early 1-0 edge. Waters went from first to third on the base hit, and scored on a single by Mandie Fishback for a 2-0 lead. As it turned out, the two-run first provided Fico more than enough support.

Ashley Hall led off the bottom of the first for the Saints with a towering triple over the head of Brakette right-fielder Denis. The three-bagger would have been out at DeLuca Field, but the 300-foot slow pitch fence at Short Beach allowed Denis to chase down the ball and deliver a strong throw back to the infield, holding Hall to the triple.

Fico was unaffected by the runner at third with no outs, striking out Rachel West and Chelsey Carmody, before inducing a grounder to Jess Mouse at third to retire the side. Fico held the Saints to a lone single the rest of the way.

St. Louis pitcher Amanda Zust locked in after the first inning, allowing just a single and a walk over the next three frames. Stratford held the 2-0 advantage through four, as the hurlers traded scoreless innings.

The Brakettes finally got to Zust in the top of the fifth, as they tacked on three more runs.

Heronema led off with her second base hit of the matchup. Waters followed with a walk, putting two runners on with no outs.

Denis lined a double to send Heronema home and Waters to third, extending the lead to 3-0. Waters then raced home on a wild pitch, which also pushed Denis to third. Steffi Call contributed an RBI single to score Denis from third for a 5-0 margin.

Heronema reached on a fielder’s choice grounder with one out in the sixth and advanced on a base hit by Waters. Denis nailed a triple to score both Heronema and Waters, pushing the lead to 7-0.

Steffi Call followed and crushed her 21st homer of the year, which gives her the top two single-season home run totals (31 homers in 2011) in Brakettes’ history.

The two-run blast closed out the scoring at 9-0, with Fico getting three outs in the bottom of the sixth to secure the Brakettes’ place in the title game.