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Thursday Night
Brakettes Back to their Winning Ways
 July 3, 2015 - The Brakettes ended their franchise-record five-game losing streak on Thursday night, sweeping the CT Seahawks 3-0 and 6-0 at DeLuca Hall of Fame Field in Stratford. Bouncing back from a tough five-game series with the highly regarded Canadian National Team, Stratford limited the Seahawks to six hits and did not allow a run in the doubleheader.
Sydney Matzko (3-2) struck out nine with no walks in the early game, hurling a two-hitter to pick up her third win as a Brakette. Matzko retired the last ten batters she faced, seemingly growing stronger over the course of the game.
Laura Ricciardone improved to 7-2 with a four-hit shutout in the nightcap, fanning eight Seahawk batters, also not surrendering a walk on the night.
Britt Lampert got the Brakettes going in the first contest, reaching base with a one-out walk in the first inning. She stole second to put herself in scoring position, and then came home on a single by Denise Denis for a 1-0 edge.
Seahawk starter Katie Koshes struck out 10 Brakettes in the outing, with the first six outs recorded all via the strikeout. She gave up just five hits, while walking five.
 Stratford added two more tallies in the third to give Matzko some separation from the Seahawks, as Val Suto led off with a double. Suto won a long battle at the plate with Koshes, fouling off numerous pitches with a 3-2 count before planting the liner in left field.
Suto reached third on a single by Lampert, who took advantage of a napping infield to take second on the play. Denis followed with a sac fly to centerfield, scoring Suto and sending Lampert to third. Emily Lochten beat out an infield single, as Lampert raced home with the Brakettes’ third and final run.
Matzko benefitted from some solid play behind her in the game, starting with a diving grab by second baseman Tatum Buckley in the first inning. Buckley’s fully-outstretched catch to her left side snared a liner by Stephanie Appleberg with two outs and runners at the corners, keeping the Seahawks off the board.
Buckley also combined on a 4-6-3 double play in the second inning, quickly fielding a grounder and flipping to shortstop Lochten, who touched second and fired in time to Cassie Ruscz at first.
The Brakettes quickly went up on the Seahawks in the late matchup, scoring twice in the bottom of the first. Back-to-back singles by Suto and Lampert led to two runs, thanks to a double by Denis.
Lampert singled and Denis walked in the fifth frame, before they came home on a pair of passed balls for a 4-0 lead. Jordan Whitley singled and Sarah Bencivenga earned a base on balls, and then both scored on a single by Katie Petroski to close out the scoring at 6-0.
Ricciardone retired ten of the last 11 batters she faced to secure the victory for the Brakettes, who upped their record to 16-6 with the sweep.
Former Brakette (1991) Michelle Palmer Suda brought the youth team she coaches, the Norwalk TL Elite 12U and threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the start.
The Brakettes return to action on Saturday night at DeLuca Field at 7:00 with a doubleheader against the New York Swag.
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Thursday night, July 2nd
vs. Connecticut Seahawks 23U |
| First Game, 7:00 PM |
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Second Game |
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| CT SEAHAWKS |
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0 |
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0 |
| BRAKETTES |
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2 |
Batteries: CT Seahawks- Katie Koshes (L) and Kailey Kempf, Meagan Hodgdon (4); Brakettes- Sydney Matzko (W, 3-2) and Elena Bowman
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| CT SEAHAWKS |
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2 |
| BRAKETTES |
2 |
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7 |
0 |
Records: Seahawks 18-2; Brakettes 16-6
Batteries: CT Seahawks- MacKenzie Joudoutis (L), Kaysee Talcik (5) and Teresa Marchitto; Brakettes- Laura Ricciardone (W, 7-2) and Mary Siglimpaglia
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