Brakettes Bats Stay Red Hot in Beating Mirage Gold

June 25, 2010 - The recent offensive onslaught continued for the Stratford Brakettes Thursday night, as they sprinted past the CT Mirage Gold 14-0 and 8-0 at DeLuca Field. Rachele Fico and Whitney Canion recorded 13 strikeouts apiece in their outings, as both pitchers improved to 5-0 for the season.

Fico struck out the first six batters she faced in the first game, and allowed just two hits and a walk over six innings.

Stratford got on the board in the first, when Ashley Waters and Denise Denis earned consecutive one-out walks. Mandie Fishback drove Waters home from second with a single, putting the Brakettes up 1-0.

The Brakettes pushed the lead to 3-0 in the third inning, when Denis and Jess Serio connected on back-to-back homers. The line drive blast to right-center was the third for Denis this year, and Serio’s was her second of 2010.

The fourth inning proved to be the most fruitful for the Brakettes, as they exploded for nine runs, all of which came with two outs. Canion led off with a single and was pinch-run for by Amber Radomski. Jess Mouse followed with a base hit of her own, and both runners moved up when Lindsey Kay Bright reached on a fielder’s choice. Denis provided a base-clearing double to put the Brakettes up 6-0, and the rout was on.

Serio smacked a double to score Denis, and the lead stood at 7-0. The Brakettes went on to score five more runs in the frame, with a two-run single by Christine DellaVecchia capping the inning at 12-0. Jess Mouse also had a two-run double, the second of her three hits in the game.

The last two runs came home in the bottom of the fifth, when Lyndsay Mouse earned a bases-loaded walk for a 13-0 lead, and Jess Mouse singled to score Serio to close out the scoring. Jess Mouse had three RBI in the contest, while Denis drove in four.

Canion continued the dominant pitching for the Brakettes with her second no-hitter of the year. The only base runner allowed by Canion was Mo Gauthier, who earned a first inning walk. The second game was a five-inning, run rule-shortened game that saw the Brakettes again burst out in the fourth inning.

Kathleen Conway started for the Mirage Gold and confused the Brakettes early. She struck out Carly Normandin and Denis looking in the first inning, and picked up two more strikeouts in the second.

Stratford scored one run in the second, when Fishback led off with a double to left-center. Fishback tagged and went to third on a fly out by Jess Mouse, and scooted home when the throw to third was off the mark.

Normandin doubled to lead off the third, and moved to third base on a single by Waters, who then stole second without a throw. Denis sent Normandin home with a sac fly to right, and Waters also tagged to head to third. Serio contributed another RBI with a single to score Waters, and the Brakettes went up 3-0.

The fourth inning proved to be perilous for the Mirage Gold once more, as Stratford scored five runs in the bottom of the frame.

Bright led off with her second bunt single of the contest, and scored on a double by Jess Mouse. Cimminello launched a shot to center that was dropped, allowing Mouse to move to third. Normandin then ripped a double to score both Mouse and Cimminello, and the score stood at 6-0. Normandin scored from second base on a wild pitch, showing no signs of the sore hamstring that forced her to miss a few games last week. Waters scored the last run on a groundout by Fishback, and the Brakettes gave Canion all the runs she needed to record the shortened victory.

Canion struck out the side in the top of the fifth to close it out, and retired the last eight batters by strikeout. Canion fanned 12 of the last 13 batters she faced.

The Brakettes return to action Saturday at noon in the Linden Invitational in Linden, NJ. The Brakettes will provide a radio-only broadcast for all games from this weekend’s tournament at brakettes.com.