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Thursday Night Pool Play
Brakettes Open WMS with Pair of Shutouts
 August 7, 2015 - The Stratford Brakettes rode two strong performances by Sydney Matzko to a tandem of victories on the first day of Women’s Major Softball National Championship pool play. The Brakettes knocked off the Queens (NY) Lady Rangers, 8-0 in six innings, before blanking the Dutchess (NY) Debs, 9-0. Both games were played at Frank DeLuca Hall of Fame Field in Stratford, CT.
The Brakettes closed out round-robin pool play as the top seed in Pool C, by virtue of the two wins. They will start double-elimination play on Friday at 7:30 against the CT Seahawks.
Matzko struck out nine in the first game, hurling a one-hitter and walking none. The only hit by the Lady Rangers was a second-inning, leadoff double by Shannon Minihane.
The Brakettes got on the board early, as Val Suto led off with an infield single. Suto stole second base, before scoring on a massive home run by Emily Lochten, her sixth of the year. Lochten’s blast sailed well over the home run fence in left and gave Stratford a 2-0 edge.
Sarah Bencivenga started a big rally in the second for the Brakettes, as she led off the frame with a ground rule double to left-center. Tatum Buckley followed with a ground rule double of her own, scoring Bencivenga for a 3-0 lead.
Cassie Ruscz was up next and delivered her sixth homer of the season, a two-run blast to stretch the margin to 5-0.
Jordan Whitley continued the momentum with a walk and went to third on a ground rule double by Mary Sciglimpaglia, who later advanced to third on a wild pitch. With one out, Denise Denis lofted a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Sciglimpaglia to push the score to 7-0.
The Brakettes could not score over the next three stanzas, but pushed home the game-ending run in the sixth, due to the run rule.
Ruscz started the inning with a ground rule double and stayed put at second on an infield single by Whitley. Sciglimpaglia followed with a bunt single, loading the bases with no outs. Suto came through with a single up the middle, her third hit of the game, to score Ruscz and end the game at 8-0.
The only thing the Brakettes lost on the night was the coin toss before the second game, so they were the visitors against the Dutchess Debs.
The Debs proved to be a tough opponent in the Brakettes’ second contest, which was the last game of the night at DeLuca Field. The Brakettes scored a run in the first inning, but were held off the board again until the fifth.
Suto walked to start the game, and promptly stole second. She went to third on a single by Britt Lampert and scored on a sac fly by Denis for a 1-0 advantage.
Debs starter Alyssa Pfitscher shut the Brakettes down for the next three innings, before Stratford struck again in the fifth.
Taylor Moss doubled with two outs in the fifth, and Suto beat out an infield single to put two on. Lampert then clubbed a triple to centerfield, scoring two for a 3-0 lead. Denis beat out an infield single, letting Lampert race home for a 4-0 margin.
Laura Ricciardone came on in relief of Matzko in the fifth inning, striking out four and shutting down the Debs the rest of the way in order.
The Brakettes tacked on three more runs in the sixth, when Elena Bowman led off with a walk. Bencivenga reached on an error, and Whitley also walked to load the bases. Sciglimpaglia launched a sac fly to center to score Bowman, stretching the advantage to 5-0. Moss singled to plate two more runs, making it a 7-0 game.
In the top of the seventh, Lochten and Bowman drew back-to-back walks. Bencivenga singled to load the bases, before Buckley and Whitley drove in runs on consecutive sac flies, closing out the scoring at 9-0.
Moss and Lampert each had three hits in the outing, while Bencivenga and Suto had two apiece.
All 2015 WMS games played at DeLuca Hall of Fame Field are being live video webcast at brakettes.com. For more information on the 2015 WMS National Championship, go to http://brakettes.com/wms_tournament_2015/welcome.htm.
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Thursday night, August 6th
WMS Tournament - Pool Play
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| 6:30 PM vs. Queens Lady Rangers |
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9:30 PM vs. Dutchess Debs |
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| LADY RANGERS |
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0 |
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1 |
1 |
| BRAKETTES |
2 |
5 |
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1 |
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8 |
13 |
1 |
Batteries: Lady Rangers- Katie Siano (L), Kaitlin Derby (2) and Kat Barbaro; Brakettes- Sydney Matzko (W, 10-2) and Mary Sciglimpaglia
Homeruns: Emily Lochten (6), Cassie Ruscz (6) |
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| BRAKETTES |
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0 |
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3 |
3 |
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2 |
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9 |
13 |
1 |
| DUTCHESS DEBS |
0 |
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0 |
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0 |
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0 |
3 |
2 |
| Batteries: Brakettes- Sydney Matzko (W, 11-2), Laura Ricciardone (5) and Mary Sciglimpaglia; Dutchess Debs- Alyssa Pfitscher (L) and Jackie Marak |
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