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Saturday Night
Brakettes Blank Rampage, Squeak Past Havoc
 July 12, 2015 - The Stratford Brakettes swept through the Tri-State tripleheader on Saturday night at DeLuca Hall of Fame Field, defeating the New Jersey Rampage 8-0 in five innings, before holding on for a 3-2 victory over the New York City Havoc. The Havoc also took a 6-2 decision from the Rampage in the first of three round-robin games, earlier Saturday.
Sydney Matzko earned the win for the Brakettes against New Jersey, striking out six and scattering five hits in the run rule-shortened contest. She upped her mark to 6-2 on the season with the victory.
Stratford jumped out early, as Val Suto led off the bottom of the first with an infield single. With one out, Denise Denis roped a triple to the fence in right, scoring Suto for the 1-0 edge. Denis came home with the team’s second run on a single by Sarah Bencivenga to center. The 2-0 lead would hold until the third.
Denis was hit by a pitch to start the third frame and promptly stole second base. Bencivenga picked up another base hit, sending Denis to third. Bencivenga got caught in a rundown while trying to steal second, but Denis raced home as her teammate drew the throw, stretching the margin to 3-0.
The Brakettes exploded in the home fourth, plating five runs to put them in position to end the game early.
Katie Petroski led off the inning with a walk, and went to second on a sacrifice by Kaley Kempf. Suto reached on another infield single, sending Petroski to third. Lampert also singled, and Suto had to stay put at third, so Denis came up with the bases loaded. Denis contributed a single up the middle to score Petroski, pushing the lead to 4-0.
Both Suto and Lampert moved up a bag on the hit by Denis, so the bases remained loaded for Bencivenga, who already had two hits. Bencivenga continued her torrid hitting with a two-run single to right, bringing Suto and Lampert home for a 6-0 lead. Bencivenga went to second on the relay throw. Denis advanced to third on the play, and then scored on a sac fly by Cassie Ruscz.
Tatum Buckley capped the long inning with an RBI single to score Bencivenga from second, and the Brakettes took an 8-0 lead into the top of the fifth.
Matzko faced her biggest challenge of the afternoon in the fifth, when Brook Ennis reached on an error and moved to second on a groundout. After the sixth strikeout of the game by Matzko brought the Rampage to the brink, Aristina Barry beat out an infield single. Ennis tried to score on the play and was thrown out at home for the last out of the game.
The Brakettes jumped ahead in the first inning against the Havoc, as Suto again started things off with a single. Lampert moved her over with a bunt single, bringing Denis up with two on. Denis singled to score Suto to put the Brakettes up, 1-0. Lampert raced to third on the throw, and Denis pulled into second. With one out, Ruscz earned a walk to load the bases. Buckley followed with a sac fly to centerfield, and Lampert crossed home for a 2-0 lead.
Havoc starter Alyson Chiaramonte allowed one more run in the third inning, when Bencivenga doubled to right with one out. After advancing to third on a grounder, Bencivenga came home on an RBI single by Buckley to make it 3-0.
Brandice Balschmiter went the distance for the Brakettes, and stranded five runners in her first four innings of work, before the Havoc got on the board in the fifth.
With one out in the top of the fifth, Gina Gerone went opposite field with a towering home run, bringing New York City to within 3-1. Balschmiter retired the next two batters to end the inning.
After a scoreless sixth, the Havoc tried to mount a comeback in the seventh. With one out, Gerone reached on a two-base error and scored on a single by Liz DiCicco, who reached second on the play. Balschmiter then struck out the next batter, as DiCicco took off for third. Mary Sciglimpaglia delivered a perfect strike to Whitley, who applied the tag to end the game.
Balschmiter struck out seven in the outing and improved to 9-2 on the year with the gritty victory.
The Brakettes now stand at 23-6 for the season after winning their ninth game in a row. The Havoc stopped the Brakettes’ streak of eight straight shutout wins.
The Brakettes will return to action next Saturady in the USSSA Brakettes Invitational. There will be three round-robin games on Saturday for the Brakettes, and one more on Sunday. Double-elimination bracket play will take place next Sunday after the round-robin games are complete. Check back at brakettes.com for more information on the schedule for the USSSA Brakettes Invitational.
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Saturday night, July 11th
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| 5:15 PM vs. New Jersey Rampage |
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7:00 PM vs. NYC Havoc |
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| NJ RAMPAGE |
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Batteries: Rampage- Chelsea Eckert (L) and Dominique Pinto; Brakettes- Sydney Matzko (W, 6-2) and Kaley Kempf
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9 |
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Batteries: Havoc- Alyson Chiaramonte (L) and Linsey DeDomenico; Brakettes- Brandice Balschmiter (W, 9-2) and Mary Sciglimpaglia
Homerun: Havoc- Gina Gerone |
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