Speed, Pitching Push Brakettes Past WNY Xtreme in Doubleheader Sweep

July 18, 2009

by Ilan Woll

The Brakettes took advantage of timely hitting, team speed, and strong pitching to outduel the Western NY Xtreme in 5-1 and 3-0 victories Saturday night in front of a nice crowd at DeLuca Field. Carly Normandin’s two extra base hits powered the Stratford offense while Jen Russell grounded the Xtreme offense in game one, and Bailey Sanders combined with Kasey Barrett to shut out Western New York in game two.

Game one saw Russell facing Brittany Stratton. Stratton, who defeated the Brakettes in the first round of the 2008 ASA nationals, held Stratford scoreless for the first two innings. She allowed Ashley Waters and Mandie Fishback to reach third base but prevented both from scoring. Meanwhile Xtreme singles by Sammy Vara in the first inning and Kayla Hines in the second were both stranded.

After Russell retired the side in the top of third inning, Normandin hit the ball into the gap in right centerfield, speeding to third base with a standup triple. Waters followed up with a double, plating Normandin. Denise Denis grounded to first baseman Rachel Denney. Denney threw to third, but an errant throw scored Waters for a 2-0 Stratford lead.

Western New York answered in the fourth as Nicki Sabuda singled and was bunted to second on a Denney sacrifice. Ashley Bonetto then grounded back to Russell, who went for the runner at third, but Sabuda slid in safely. After Bonetto stole second base, Jenna Baker grounded to Fishback at shortstop, who threw home to catcher Jess Mouse nailing Sabuda at the plate. Bonetto scored two batters later on a Kayla Hines single.

The Brakettes added two runs in the fifth when Ashley Waters singled. Denise Denis then bunted to Kayla Hines whose throw was late and also sailed into right field. Waters never looked back and scored from first on the play. Jess Mouse then followed with a sacrifice bunt and Brittany Stratton’s throw to first was high and again went to right field. Denise Denis ran hard and scored on the play for a 4-1 lead.

Stacey Lajoie added an insurance run in the sixth with a leadoff double, advancing to third on a Lindsey Kay Bright slap single and scoring on a Normandin grounder to the pitcher.

The Xtreme threatened in the seventh as Hines was hit by a pitch and Ashley Lodato doubled. Kelly Jones followed with a hard hit line drive that was just grabbed by Jen Russell who doubled off Hines at third base. Britney Bonetto ended the game with a ground ball to second base. Russell finished the night with seven solid innings, allowing six hits and no walks, with two strikeouts.

Game two began with Bailey Sanders facing off against St. John’s Chelsea Plimpton. Western New York threatened in the top of the first when Sammy Vara singled, then while attempting to steal second lost her footing and was tagged out in a rundown by Ashley Waters. Kayla Hines nearly scored in the third inning as Hines advanced to third base on an Ashley Lodato sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch by Sanders.

Meanwhile Stratford was unable to score against Plimpton. Denise Denis singled, stole second and reached third base in the first inning. Amber Radomski challenged the Xtreme in the second with a single to right field, stealing second base and advancing to third on a Nicki Sabuda throwing error.

The top of the fourth inning saw another challenge as Denney singled and Ashley Bonetto walked. Jess Mouse threw to Jenna Lopez for an attempted pickoff, but Lopez could not handle the throw and the runners advanced on the error. Jenna Baker walked to load the bases, but the chance ended with Kayla Hines hitting a solid liner straight to Mandie Fishback.

After each side was retired in order in the fifth inning, Bailey Sanders walked Vara to start the top of the sixth inning. Sabuda then sacrificed Vara to second base. Sanders had been working in and out of trouble and Manager John Stratton brought in Kasey Barrett to change styles with the game still scoreless. Barrett then struck out the next two batters to end the inning. Sanders ended the game pitching five and one third innings, striking out five, allowing three hits and three walks.

The bottom of the sixth ended the Brakette run drought as Carly Normandin homered off the top of the right field fence. Ashley Waters then singled to centerfield. Denise Denis hit a sharp grounder that took a bizarre hop over the head of second baseman Kelly Jones. This was followed by a hard grounder dropped by Ashley Bonetto to load the bases. Jess Mouse hit a sharp sacrifice fly to Sammy Vara, scoring Waters. Denis then scored on an Amber Radomski single giving the Brakettes their third run.

Barrett finished off Western New York in the bottom of the inning with 2 strikeouts and a pop fly to end the game, earning the win in relief.