Fico outduels Balschmiter, Gleason in 3-0, 4-0 sweep of CT Mirage 23U

July 9, 2010

by Ilan Woll

Rachele Fico pitched both ends of Friday night's double header, no-hitting the CT Mirage 23 and under squad in game one, then coming back to throw a one-hit shutout in the nightcap. Jess Serio hit her third home run of the season, while Denise Denis contributed three hits, with two doubles.

The game began with Fico facing a challenge after a one-out walk to Ashley Bilodeau. Two pitches later, a pitch went wild, but Serio quickly corralled it and threw out the runner with a strike to Mandie Fishback. The Brakettes started their half of the inning with a bang as Carly Normandin legged out a dribbler to the third baseman. An Ashley Waters sacrifice bunt advanced Carly to second. Denis then walked and Serio reached on an infield hit to load the bases. Fishback then grounded to the shortstop, but the throw was dropped by the first baseman scoring Normandin and Denis to give the Brakettes a 2-0 lead over Brandice Balschmiter, the former UMass and Brakette star.

Fico continued her dominance in the second inning striking out the first batter before Nicole Downs smashed a drive to deep right field. Denise Denis backpedalled quickly, grabbing the ball just in front of the warning track for the third out. Meanwhile, Lindsey Kay Bright singled on a three-bouncer to another former Brakette, Jess Arremony, and stole second base but advanced no further.

Stratford tacked on an additional run in the third as Ashley Waters walked, and advanced on a ground ball to the pitcher by Denis. Jess Serio then grounded to the shortstop, but a wide throw scored Waters and the Brakettes took a 3-0 lead.

Rachele’s dominance continued in the fourth as she struck out the side as part of the 19 batters in a row retired. Jess Mouse gave an opportunity to break open the game in the bottom of the inning with a single to left and a steal of second, but went no further as Brandice Balschmiter struck out the final two Brakettes. Similarly, Denise Denis doubled to left center in the fifth, but was stranded at third. Both pitchers retired their opponents in order in the sixth.

With the top of the order batting in the seventh, Fico faced a challenge to her no-hitter, and perhaps even the game. However, no ball got past the pitcher’s mound as she struck out one in the inning and threw to first to retire the other two batters.

Fico improved to 14-0 on the season with the no-hitter, allowing only the one walk. Meanwhile Balschmiter allowed three runs, only one earned, with 5 hits, two walks and struck out five.

Fico then faced former Seahawk and Eliminator standout Bree Gleason, who has had a history of 1-0 games against the Brakettes. The University of New Haven star had finished her college career with a 37-7 record.

The LSU wunderkind began the first inning as a continuation of game 1, striking out the side. Meanwhile, Denise Denis doubled to right-center and Jess Serio then smashed a deep drive to left field, clearing the fence by several yards for the 2-0 Brakette lead.

In the second, Fico’s consecutive out streak ended at 23 as Jill Andrews connected on a riseball, singling up the middle. Jill reached second on a ground ball by Nicole Downs, but was left on base. The Brakettes threatened as Amber Radomski walked and reached second on a Jessica Mouse bunt. Lindsey Kay Bright then used her jack rabbit speed, singling on a two bouncer to third base and sending Amber to third. Carly Normandin then flew to centerfield, but Jill Andrews made a strong throw to the plate, keeping Amber at third.

Rachele allowed her last base runner of the night in the third as Casey Sullivan walked with two outs and stole second, but reached no further as the final batter was retired. Similarly, the Brakettes left a runner at third base as Denise Denis singled on a dribbler to second base, stealing second and advancing to third on a one hop ground out to Ashley Bilodeau at third base.

The fourth inning saw another two-out rally for Stratford. Following two pop-ups forced by the skillful inside pitching of Breanne Gleason. Lindsey Kay Bright then walked. Carly Normandin followed with a smoking drive to right-center which was just out of the range of right fielder Jess Rickel and finally corralled, but could not stop the UMass speedster from producing an RBI triple. Waters then brought in Carly with a ground ball to third base which was bobbled, giving the Brakettes a 4-0 lead.

As Fico overpowered the Mirage 23U squad in the fifth, Serio walked and then Fishback lined a drive directly at Jill Andrews in centerfield. Lyndsay Mouse singled, advancing Serio to second. Pinch hitter Sarah Calgreen, joining the team from American International where she hit .331, hit a Texas Leaguer to center field, but Jill Andrews charged quickly, corralling the ball and quickly doubling Serio off second to end the inning.

After another 1-2-3 from Rachele, Brandice Balschmiter returned to the game, also retiring the side in the sixth. The star of Masuk High and LSU then finished the night with a flourish, taking down the heart of the Mirage order to complete the twin shutouts.

Fico finished the game with eleven strikeouts, allowing only one hit and one walk. Only two Mirage hitters took the ball out of the infield. She improves to 15-0 on the year with a 0.46 ERA as the Brakettes host a Saturday night 7:00pm double header, followed by a twin bill at noon Sunday against Elaine Bedell, Danielle Thacker and the rest of the 4th of July tournament finalist Lyons Spirit.