BRAKETTES HOST MIRAGE GOLD; TRAVEL TO LINDEN TOURNAMENT

June 24, 2010 - Riding an 11-game winning streak, the Stratford Brakettes return to action Thursday, June 24 in a 7 o'clock doubleheader against the Connecticut Mirage Gold at Frank DeLuca Hall of Fame Field. This is the team's only home date of the weekend as Friday night's twin-bill against the Mirage U23 team has been postponed to July 9 at 7 p.m.

Rachele Fico (4-0, 1.38), Whitney Canion (4-0, 0.26) and Sara Plourde (1-0) will handle the pitching chores Thursday night and during the weekend when the Brakettes (12-1) play in the Linden, NJ, Invitational Saturday and Sunday.

Newcomer Kristyn Sandberg, who led Georgia to a College World Series berth, leads the team with a .667 average and seven RBI after debuting in three games last weekend. Carly Normandin (.454, 6 RBI), Ashley Waters (19-46, .413, 9 RBI), Lindsay Kay Bright (.378, 14 hits) and Denise Denis (.355, 12 RBI) are the team leaders. Waters also has five doubles and a team-high four home runs. The Brakettes crushed eight in three wins last weekend.

The Brakettes will honor Jackie Brewster and Karla Grajeda of the Black Rock Little League Thursday night in pre-game ceremonies for being the sectional finalists in The Major League Baseball and Aquafina Pitch, Hit and Run Competition. The pair will throw out ceremonial first pitches and serve as batgirls for the Brakettes. Brewster (12-yr. old group) and Grajeda (13-yr. old group) will compete this Saturday, June 26th, at Citifield in New York, home of the Mets. The winner goes on to represent the Mets in the National finals at The 2010 Allstar Game in July @ Anaheim California.

The Brakettes will have three Pool Play games on Saturday, taking on the New Jersey Heist at 12 noon, the East Coast Elite (NJ) at 3:30, and the Jersey Girls at 5:15. The top two teams in each of the four pools of the 16-team field will advance to single-elimination championship play on Sunday, with the quarterfinals starting at 11 am.

All youth league softball players wearing their team jerseys are admitted FREE to all Brakettes home games in Stratford. All Brakettes home games are video webcast at brakettes.com. The Brakettes will provide a radio-only webcast of all Linden Invitational games, also at brakettes.com.