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Brakettes Flawless in Bracket Play, Advance to Tournament Final
 Aug 4 – by Jeff Glazer – The Stratford Brakettes kept the bats hot during their three-game stretch of bracket play in the 2019 WMS Tournament, winning all three games to advance to Sunday's Finals against the Lyons Spirit.
Their first task was to go up against the Ridgefield Rebels. As they tend to do, the Brakettes got out to an early lead. Five runs would come across in the inning after RBI hits from Jolie Duffner, Briana Marcelino, Lauren Pitney, and Gillian Birk.
But they would not stop there. The Brakettes put an exclamation point on this one, driving in 11 runs in the third inning. The big blows in the inning were home runs from Casey Harding and Denise Denis.
The Brakettes managed to rack up 16 hits to go alongside their 16 runs, with Julia Handfield having no trouble keeping the Rebels' bats quiet. The final score of Game One of bracket play for the Brakettes, 16-0.
They would then take on the Stripes and Strikes in the Winner's Bracket semi-finals. An RBI single in the bottom of the first for Alex Heinen got things started. Marcelino would follow up with an RBI double. Not to be outdone, Pitney would drive in both of them with a two-run, two-base hit of her own, making it a 4-0 game in the first.
In the bottom of the second, the hits just kept on coming. Theresa Kane drove in a run with a single through the left side. The all-time doubles leader, Denise Denis, would add another to her tally, this one driving in another pair of Brakettes. One more would touch home after Pitney was walked with the bases loaded.
The Stripes and Strikes managed to claw one back on a Marisssa Trivelpiece homerun (photo) but the Brakettes would wrap things up in the bottom of the fourth. A Marcelino sacrifice fly led to back-to-back bloop RBI singles from Birk and Harding, making it 11-1 and giving the Brakettes a Mercy Rule victory in four innings.
Raeanne Geffert allowed just the one run and was thoroughly fantastic the whole way through.
 With just one game between the Brakettes and the championship game, the CT Eliminators 23U squad was all that stood in their way. As ever, Denise Denis was not one to wait around to get things going. She knocked in the first run of the game with an RBI double in the first. A sac fly from Heinen made it 2-0. With two already in, Briana Marcelino made it a couple more. A no-doubt shot out to left-center made it 4-0 but not for long. Pitney went back-to-back with an opposite field jack and it was quickly 5-0.
An error brought home Theresa Kane in the second, increasing the lead to six.
One more big inning would do it and who better than the reigning WMS Tournament MVP? Briana Marcelino's second home run of the game brought home three more. Gabby Laccona knocked in another with a double and would eventually come around to score after a stolen base and a wild pitch. Denis would cap things off with another RBI hit.
Ali DuBois had more than enough to work with in this one, shutting out the Eliminators over the course of three innings. The game was called after just three due to the Mercy Rule and the Brakettes will play in the 2019 WMS Championship Game.
The Brakettes outscored their bracket play opponents 39-1 and carry an undefeated tournament record into what will be their last game of the year against the Lyons Spirit.
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WMS Bracket Game 13
7:00 p.m., Saturday, Aug 3
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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 |
5 |
1 |
6 |
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12 |
11 |
1 |
| CT ELIMINATORS 23U |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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0 |
2 |
2 |
Batteries: Elim 23U- Genna Hartman (L) and Madeira Alexander; Brakettes- Ali DuBois (W, 13-0) and Alex Heinen
Homeruns: Brakettes- Briana Marcelino 2 (11), Lauren Pitney (10)
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WMS Bracket Game 9
12 noon., Saturday, Aug 3
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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 |
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| STRIKES&STRIPES |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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1 |
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1 |
4 |
1 |
| BRAKETTES |
4 |
4 |
0 |
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3 |
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11 |
14 |
0 |
Batteries: S&S- Kas Slusser and Ali Keener; Brakettes- Raeanne Geffert (W, 5-1) and Alex Heinen
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WMS Bracket Game 2
7:00 p.m., Friday, Aug 2
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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 |
5 |
0 |
11 |
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16 |
16 |
0 |
| RIDGEFIELD REBELS |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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0 |
0 |
2 |
Batteries: Brakettes- Julia Handfield (W, 8-0) and Alex Heinen; Rebels- Kristen Sliman (L), Katherine Vill (3), Kristen Sliman (3) and Marissa Fabbo
Homeruns: Brakettes- Casey Harding (2), Denise Denis (7)
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