Brakettes Top Polar Crush in Reunion for Both Teams

July 16, 2009 - The Brakettes twice eclipsed the Polar Crush of Worcester, MA, Thursday night in Stratford, by 8-0 and 10-2 scores. Bailey Sanders earned the victory in the early game against her former team, which is coached by former Brakette Robyn King.

Sanders struck out eight in six innings, while allowing two hits and walking one. Sanders beat the Brakettes 1-0 at DeLuca Field in 2006, while pitching for the Polar Crush. She improved to 12-1 with the decision.

The Brakettes scored three runs in the bottom of the first, but paid dearly for it. Jess Serio doubled home Ashley Waters and Denise Denis, after both reached on singles to center. The two-base hit gave the Brakettes a 2-0 lead with Jess Mouse coming up. Mouse then lined out to third base, and Jenny MacDowell tried to double Serio off at second.

Serio dove back to the base head-first, jamming her right arm hard into the bag. She was ruled safe on a close play, but stayed down on the ground. After a lengthy delay, Serio was taken to the hospital by ambulance. She returned later in the second game with a sling and a smile, after X-rays came back negative.

Lindsey Kay Bright came in as a pinch-runner for Serio, and scored on a single by Mandie Fishback, giving Stratford a 3-0 lead.

Carly Normandin led off the bottom of the fifth with a triple, and Denis then reached on a dropped third strike. Denis took off for second, drawing a throw to the base. Normandin broke home, and scored the fourth run without a throw home, as Denis was also safe. Bright worked a walk, putting two on. With two outs, Fishback doubled to the fence in center, scoring Denis and Bright for a 6-0 advantage.

Stacey Lajoie singled with one out in the sixth, and reached third base as the throw from third sailed into right field. Normandin grounded up the middle, right under the glove of Polar Crush starter Nikki D’Argento. Lajoie scored on the error, pushing the margin to 7-0. Waters singled to move Normandin to second, and Denis launched a double to center to score Normandin for the eighth and game-ending run.

D’Argento went the distance for the Crush, striking out seven Brakettes. Quianna Diaz-Patterson reached base all three times she came up, being hit by a pitch, while also making it on with a walk and a single.

Jen Russell picked up the victory in the second game, giving up five hits and two runs, one earned. Russell struck out three in five innings, and moved to 8-1 with the win.

Diaz-Patterson led off the top of the first for the Polar Crush with an infield single, and moved up two bases on a pair of groundouts. Lauren Murphy delivered her second hit of the double-header to score Diaz-Patterson, giving the Polar Crush an early 1-0 lead.

Denis moved back into the outright team-lead for homers in the first inning, blasting her 10th of the season to right. The solo shot tied the game at 1-1, and came with two outs in the frame. Stratford would add three more runs in the inning.

Mouse walked, and went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Fishback, as the throw to first was off the mark. Jenna Lopez then singled to score Mouse for a 2-1 lead. Jill Cimminello and Sanders each provided RBI singles, putting Stratford up 4-1.

MacDowell reached on a single for the Polar Crush in the top of the second, and went to second on a wild pitch. Kelsi Bryant reached on an error, allowing MacDowell to score. The Brakettes’ lead was cut to 4-2.

Waters tripled in the second inning and scored on a groundout by Mouse, pushing the lead to 5-2. The Brakettes would add two more runs in the third.

Cimminello reached on an error, and was sacrificed over by Sanders. Cimminello went all the way to third, as the bag was left unattended. Bright reached on her second straight infield single, scoring Cimminello for a 6-2 lead. Bright ended up at second on the play, as the throw to first went to the fence. Normandin singled Bright home from second, and the lead stood at 7-2.

Cimminello continued her solid play in the fifth, leading off the inning with her first homer of the year. The towering shot to left put Stratford up 8-2.

With one out, Bright doubled down the left field line. She went 4-for-4 on the night after replacing Serio, scoring four runs, drawing a walk, and stealing a base as well.

Bright scored the ninth Stratford run on a single by Normandin, who then scored the game-ending run on a ground-rule double by Waters. The Brakettes took the late game 10-2 in five innings, and moved to 29-4 on the season.

Lauren Murphy started for the Polar Crush, and went three innings. She was relieved by Emma Mendoker in the fourth. Brianna Ferri also picked up a hit and a walk for the Crush in the nightcap.

The Polar Crush dropped to 14-9 with the pair of defeats. Robyn King’s club is preparing for another trip to Oklahoma City in early August, to participate in the 18-U Gold National Championships.

The Brakettes will be back in action Friday night at 7:00, with a doubleheader against the B.A.T.S. from Hopewell Junction, NY. It will be Breast Cancer Awareness Night at DeLuca Field, and all proceeds will go to the “Susan G. Komen for the Cure” fund.

Both games will be broadcast right here at brakettes.com.