Power Trio Ignites Brakettes in Sweep

July 5, 2013 - Steffi Call was perfect Friday night against the Stratford Seahawks, and her fellow power trio teammates Denise Denis and Elise Fortier blasted home runs to lead the Brakettes to a 7-0, 8-0 doubleheader sweep at DeLuca Field.

Denis, Call and Fortier usually bat 3-4-5 in heart of the Brakettes' order, and have combined for 21 of the team's 28 homers in 2013. While Denis and Fortier both went yard Friday, it was Call's right arm leading the way in the second game of a twinbill. Call struck out 13 of the 15 batters she faced in a five-inning perfect game, while improving to 15-0 on the season.

Sam Greiner picked up the win in the early contest, striking out nine batters in a complete-game shutout. She scattered four hits and walked four, while managing to strand nine Seahawk base runners.

Kate Flynn led the way for the Seahawks with a pair of singles, while Melissa King and C.J. Semones also contributed base hits. Their best challenge was in the third, when Greiner picked up one of her nine K's to end the inning with the bases loaded.

After a scoreless first, the Brakettes picked up a lone run in the second. Amber Radomski drew a bases-loaded walk to plate Fortier, who had reached on a walk.

The Brakettes scored two in the third, again in an unconventional manner. With Britt Lampert at third and Ashley Waters at second, a wild pitch sailed high and rattled around behind the plate, allowing both runners to score. Waters read the play in front of her and never slowed down as she rounded third. The exchange ran the score to 3-0.

Lampert reached on a bunt single in the fifth, when the Brakettes would again hit pay dirt. She stole second base and moved to third on a fielder's choice, which saw Waters reach base. Waters would then take the empty second base without a throw, giving Denis runners at second and third.

Denis had just laughed off a grounder that nearly stayed fair, but tailed to the right side of first base the pitch before, when she made the most of a second chance at the plate. She crushed a three-run homer to right-center, her sixth of the year, to stretch the lead to 6-0.

Fortier added a run in the sixth, when she led off with a double and scored on a pair of wild pitches. The Brakettes could not muster an extra tally, so Greiner went back out for a seventh inning of work.

Greiner finished the Seahawks off 1-2-3 in the seventh frame to secure the win and move her mark to 12-0 in 2013.

Fortier added another surge of power in the first inning of the nightcap, blasting her team-leading eight home run of the year. The three-run shot also scored Denis and Call, both of whom had reached base on free passes.

Kate Bowen led off the third for the Brakettes with a single and moved up a bag on a base hit by Waters. Denis reached on an error to load the bases and Call picked up a walk, scoring Bowen for a 4-0 lead.

Fortier then chopped a grounder to the left side, a play which allowed Waters to head home and saw Denis forced out at third. The score pushed the margin to 5-0.

Fishback followed with an infield single and brought Becca Carden up with the bases loaded. Carden delivered a line drive single to plate Call, upping the tally to 6-0.

The Brakettes scored the two runs she desired in the fourth, when Radomski, Mariel Schlaefer and Lampert reached on back-to-back-to-back walks. An error would put Greiner at first base and allow Radomski to score, as the other runners moved up a base. Bowen followed and grounded into a double play, but the outs were productive, as Schlaefer charged home with the eighth run.

Call closed it out by striking out the side in the fifth, a feat she also accomplished in the first and second innings.

The Brakettes and Seahawks will return to action at 7:00 on Saturday night at DeLuca Field in Stratford, CT.

All 2013 Brakettes' home games are live video webcast at brakettes.com.