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Brakettes Win Three to Reclaim WMS Title
 Aug 7 - The Stratford Brakettes came out of the loser's bracket on Sunday at the Tenth Annual Women's Major Softball National Championship to knock off the defending champion St. Louis Saints, 15-7 and 7-3, and bring the WMS Championship trophy back to Connecticut.
Stratford started the day off with a 7-0 win over the Lyons Spirit (PA) in the Loser's Bracket final, advancing to the Championship Game in the process. Meanwhile, the Saints were sitting pretty after beating the Brakettes 6-5 in the Winner's Bracket Final late Saturday night.
Kaysee Talcik (15-0) drew the start for the Brakettes after an ace-like performance during the 2018 campaign, and would face perhaps the greatest offensive club ever assembled by longtime St. Louis manager Ed Martz. She threw the first six innings in the contest and surrendered seven hits, while striking out three to earn the win.
 Britt Krodinger put the Saints up early in the home first, when she led off and hit the first pitch she saw over the fence in left for a 1-0 St. Louis edge.
Lauren Pitney responded to the challenge in the top of the second, blasting a solo shot of her own to tie it up at 1-1.
The tie score would be short-lived, as Katelyn Massa again gave the Saints a one-run advantage with a leadoff homer in the second.
Stratford speedster Val Suto worked an infield single with one away in the third, and moved up when Theresa Kane was hit by a pitch. With two outs, Jolie Duffner singled to score Suto and tie it up at 2-2.
The Saints again wasted no time in retaking the lead. After reaching on an error in the bottom of the third, Joey Lauts came home on a fielder's choice grounder by Sammey Bunch for a 3-2 tally.
 The Brakettes did their part in the back-and-forth affair, tying it up in the fourth on a leadoff solo shot by eventual Micki Stratton Award winner (Tournament MVP) Briana Marcelino. Two batters later, Gabby Laccona connected with a long ball and put Stratford ahead, 4-3.
Stratford broke the game open in the top of the fifth, scoring six runs on seven hits. The only extra-base hit of the inning belonged to Suto, who started it all off with a double to left. She scored on a base hit by Kane and the offensive barrage continued. With one out, the Brakettes saw five straight batters single, and the result was a 10-3 lead midway through the fifth inning.
St. Louis would not give up without a fight, as Bunch doubled with two outs in the home fifth. Madi Norman followed and smashed a two-run homer to cut the lead to 10-5.
Denise Denis roped a two-base hit with two outs in the sixth and advanced to third on a single by Duffner. Alex Heinen singled to plate Denis and stretch the tally to 11-5.
The Brakettes tacked on four more runs in the seventh for a comfortable 15-5 margin. The Saints scored two in the home seventh after Britt Krodinger led off with a walk. Bailey Lange singled to put two on, and Bunch drive both in with a double to narrow the gap to 15-7.
Abby Abramson, who missed the second half of the season with an injury, made her return to the field and closed out the seventh for the Brakettes.
With the two most successful teams in WMS history having split their pair of matchups in the tournament, preparations were made for the decisive rubber match. The field was dragged and relined by the grounds crew, as a 30-minute break between games let the tension subside for a moment.
Brakettes manager John Stratton saw no need for adjustments, however, and went with the same lineup for the “If” game, sending Talcik out to the circle for the biggest game of her career.
Talcik and Saints starter Madi Norman traded scoreless innings in the first, although both teams cracked the scoreboard in the second.
Duffner singled up the middle to get things going for the Brakettes, and went to second on a base hit by Heinen. Marcelino followed and lined a double to bring in Duffner for the early 1-0 edge.
Taryn Pena led off the bottom of the second for St. Louis with a home run, tying it up at 1-1.
Suto set the table for the Brakettes in the top of the third with an infield hit. Kane doubled to send Suto around to third, putting two in scoring position for Stratford. Denise Denis, who had struggled against Norman on Saturday night, came through in a big way, driving in both runners with a double to take the lead, 3-1.
St. Louis was determined to keep it close, and Bunch did her part in the bottom of the frame. The slugging shortstop gave the Saints their fourth leadoff home run on the day, cutting the margin to 3-2.
After a scoreless fourth inning for both teams, Norman hung another zero on the board in the top of the fifth. The defending champs were able to knot the game up again in the fifth, relying on the usual suspects for fuel.
With two outs, Bunch crushed a double to centerfield. Norman singled up the middle to bring home Bunch, again drawing the teams into a stalemate at 3-3.
 Raeanne Geffert, who pitched a no-hitter in the Brakettes' 7-0 win over the Spirit earlier in the day (photo), came on in relief after the Saints tied the score and got three outs without further damage.
With the game tied in the sixth inning and the championship on the line, the Brakettes found a way to put together another rally.
Kane led off with a single to right and was pushed to second base on a single by Denis. Duffner was called on to sacrifice both runners over, despite owning five hits on the day against the Saints. The former St. Louis standout got the job done and left two in scoring position with one out.
Heinen came up next and delivered a timely hit to send Kane across with a 4-3 lead. With the way the Saints had been hitting throughout the tournament, it seemed a foregone conclusion that the Brakettes would need more support.
With two outs, Pitney tripled into the left field corner, scoring two and giving the Brakettes some insurance with a 6-3 cushion.
Geffert breezed through the sixth in 1-2-3 fashion, bringing the clubs to the final inning of the tournament.
Suto helped to manufacture a run in the seventh with an infield single and a stolen base. Kane drove Suto in with a single to close out the scoring at 7-3.
Geffert retired the side in order again in the seventh to secure the victory for the Brakettes and give them their eighth Women's Major Softball National Championship. Geffert was named the tourney's Joan Joyce Award (Most Outstanding Pitcher) after finishing 3-1 in bracket play. With Geffert's no-hit performance earlier in the day, along with three hitless innings of relief, she threw ten hitless innings on Championship Sunday.
The Brakettes' win marked the first time a team came out of the Loser's Bracket to win the championship, and the “If” game was just the second one played in the tournament's ten-year existence.
The same two clubs battled in the only other “If” game two years ago, with the Saints forcing the action with a win in the Championship Game. The Brakettes recovered and won the “If” game to claim the 2016 title.
Marcelino also won the Allyson Rioux Award (Best Defensive Player) and Pat Dufficy Award (Home Run Champ), with three long balls in bracket play.
In addition to Geffert and Marcelino, the Brakettes landed five other players on the WMS All-Tourney Team. Kaysee Talcik was one of four pitchers named to the All-WMS Team, while Alex Heinen (first base), Theresa Kane (outfield), Val Suto (outfield) and Jolie Duffner (utility) also earned a spot on the squad.
The Saints placed four players on the All-WMS Team, with Katelyn Massa (catcher), Sammey Bunch (shortstop), Bailey Lange (outfield) and Madi Norman (pitcher) being voted onto the team.
The Brakettes finished their season with a record of 47-4, while the Saints rounded out their year with a 23-7 mark.
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WMS Tournament Bracket Game #17
"IF" Game
Sunday, Aug 5th
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1 |
2 |
3 |
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4 |
5 |
6 |
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7 |
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R |
H |
E |
| BRAKETTES |
0 |
1 |
2 |
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0 |
0 |
3 |
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1 |
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7 |
13 |
1 |
| STL SAINTS |
0 |
1 |
1 |
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0 |
1 |
0 |
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0 |
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3 |
6 |
1 |
Batteries: Saints- Madi Norman (L) and Katelyn Massa; Brakettes- Kaysee Talcik, Raeanne Geffert (5, W, 8-1) and Megan Hodgdon
Homerun: Saints- Taryn Pena, Sammey Bunch |
Box Score
WMS Tournament Bracket Game #16
Championship Game
Sunday, Aug 5th
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1 |
2 |
3 |
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4 |
5 |
6 |
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7 |
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R |
H |
E |
| BRAKETTES |
0 |
1 |
1 |
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2 |
6 |
1 |
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4 |
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15 |
21 |
1 |
| STL SAINTS |
1 |
1 |
1 |
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0 |
2 |
0 |
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2 |
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7 |
9 |
1 |
Batteries: Saints- Bailey Lange (L), Abigail Deane (6) and Katelyn Massa; Brakettes- Kaysee Talcik (W, 15-0), Nicole Williams (7), Abby Abramson (7) and Megan Hodgdon
Homerun: Saints- Brittney Krodinger (1), Katelyn Masssa (1), Madi Norman (1); Brakettes- Lauren Pitney (11), Briana Marcelino (7), Gabby Laccona (3) |
Box Score
WMS Tournament Bracket Game #15
Sunday, Aug 5th
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1 |
2 |
3 |
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4 |
5 |
6 |
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7 |
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R |
H |
E |
| BRAKETTES |
1 |
0 |
0 |
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2 |
3 |
1 |
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0 |
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7 |
10 |
1 |
| SPIRIT |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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0 |
0 |
0 |
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0 |
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0 |
0 |
1 |
Batteries: Spirit- Eleni Wechsler, Liz Parkins (5) and Kaitlyn Caleen; Brakettes- Raeanne Geffert (W, 7-1) and Sam Rodriguez
Homerun: Brakettes- Briana Marcelino (6) |
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