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Brakettes Win Both on Friday after Offensive Explosion
 July 20 – by Jeff Glazer – The Stratford Brakettes swept their doubleheader on Friday vs the Polar Crush by scores of 12-0 and 12-2. It was Denise Denis Night at Frank DeLuca Hall of Fame Field as the team celebrated her success in a Brakettes uniform as her illustrious career comes to a close. Much of Denise's friends and family were in attendance for the festivities and she was presented with a plaque by manager John Stratton prior to the first pitch (photo). Eleanor Mastroni, a member of the 1948 Brakettes team, was also in attendance. Denis made sure to make an occasion of it, driving in four runs and crossing the plate four times herself over the course of the doubleheader.
Kaysee Talcik would get the call in Game One and she would answer. Talcik was completely dominant over the course of her five shutout innings on the bump, allowing only one hit. The Polar Crush had no answer for Talcik on the night who silenced their bats, paving the way for an offensive explosion from the home side.
To lead off the second inning, Alex Heinen continued her hot streak at the plate with her team-leading tenth home run of the season. Becca Findley would drive home a couple more in the inning after a two-run double down the left field line was just about able to find some grass short of the left fielder's glove.
Gabby Laccona kept the scoring going in the third with a two-run double of her own, making it a 5-0 game. Talcik would hold the Crush again in the top of the fourth inning and the Brakettes would put a bow on things in the bottom of the frame.
 Becca Findley led off the inning with a walk and Val Suto and Emma Larke followed her up with back-to-back singles, loading the bases for Denise Denis. As ever, she came through in the clutch with a two-run single into right-center (photo), giving her 700 career RBIs. Following the veteran Denis, Junior Brakettes Kaitlyn Flood and Alexa Milius showed off power of their own. A three-run shot from Flood and two-run shot from Milius made it a 12-0 game and that would be that after another scoreless half inning from Talcik who moves to 13-0 on the year with the win.
Julia Handfield would start Game Two and played her part extremely well. Handfield was able to hold the Crush to two runs over five innings, giving the Brakettes the opportunity to hop out into an early lead and eventually pull away.
Jolie Duffner drove in a run in the first with an RBI double. Heinen would drive in another with a sacrifice fly and Kaitlyn Flood continued an impressive game with a run-scoring single.
In the second, Denis would put her full skillset on display. With two on and two outs, Denis sent one into the right-center field gap. Both runs scored easily and Denis used her speed to motor into third with a stand-up triple. Duffner would drive her in later in the inning.
The third inning would be even better for the Brakettes. An Emma Larke RBI single led to a two-run error, setting the stage for Duffner. Jolie would double in two more runs and finish the game 3-3 with four RBIs. Another sac fly from Heinen made it 12-2 and that was all she wrote for Game Two.
Handfield moves to 7-0 on the year and the Brakettes move to 37-1. They will be back in action during the Micki Stratton Round Robin that starts on Saturday. They'll be involved in a doubleheader with Game One against the CT Eliminators 18+ starting at 6:00pm. All Brakettes games during the tournament will be broadcast on Brakettes.com.
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| Friday, July 19th vs. Polar Crush |
| First Game, 7:00 PM |
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Second Game |
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Batteries: Crush- Kelly Nelson (L), Haile Hicks (4) and Abi Gray; Brakettes- Kaysee Talcik (W, 13-0) and Alexa Milius
Homerun: Brakettes- Alex Heinen (10), Kaitlyn Flood (3), Alexa Milius (2) |
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Batteries: Crush- Haile Hicks (L), Kelly Nelson (4) and Meghan Gurska; Brakettes- Julia Handfield (W, 7-0) and Alex Heinen
Homerun: Crush- Meghan Gurska |
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