Brakettes Sweep Gators; Prepare for Final Games at DeLuca

July 25, 2010 - The Brakettes finished up a weekend sweep of the Lehigh Valley (PA) Gators in Stratford on Sunday, as they captured a pair of victories, by 10-0 and 8-0 margins. The Brakettes will host the St. Louis Saints at 7:00 Tuesday night in a pair of games that are the franchise's last scheduled contests at DeLuca Field.

The Brakettes are hosting their regular season finale on Wednesday night at Biondi Field at West Haven (CT) H.S. against the Polar Crush (Worcester, MA), as well as the 2nd Annual Women’s Major Softball Championship, this Thursday-Sunday. With an expiring lease agreement at season’s end, Tuesday’s games could mark the end of an era at DeLuca Field, which the Brakettes have called home since 1988.

The Brakettes once again relied on strong starting pitching to control the opposition, with Erin Gallagher (7-1)  and Rachele Fico (26-0) picking up the victories.

Reigning batting queen Carly Normandin again set the table for the Brakettes in the first inning. She led off with a single, the first of her three hits on the afternoon. With two outs, Jess Serio crushed her seventh homer of the season to put the Brakettes up 2-0.

The Brakettes were kept off the board in the second inning, but sent 12 batters to the plate in the third, when they scored eight runs.

Ashley Waters started the offensive explosion with a single to left field and then stole second base. Serio followed with a walk, and both runners advanced a bag on Mandie Fishback’s infield single. With the bases loaded, Jess Mouse delivered a two-run single, putting the Brakettes up 4-0.

Amber Radomski reached on an error that sent Fishback to third and Mouse to second. A wild pitch by Gators’ starter Alicia Hughes allowed Fishback to score the Brakettes’ fifth run, and moved Mouse and Radomski up a base. Lindsey Kay Bright dropped a squeeze bunt to plate Mouse and send Radomski to third. The gutsy play call gave the Brakettes a 6-0 lead, bringing Normandin to the plate. Normandin drilled a double to score Radomski and Bright, and gave the Brakettes an 8-0 edge.

Waters came up for the second time in the inning, and brought Normandin home with her second base hit in as many tries. Denise Denis drove in Normandin with a double, ending the scoring at 10-0.

Gallagher struck out five in the run-rule shortened victory, while giving up two hits.

Fico won the second game and fanned nine batters in a one-hit shutout. The only hit she gave up was a fifth inning single to Amy Kossyk.

The Brakettes scored three in the first, as Normandin doubled to lead things off. She raced home on a single by Waters for a 1-0 lead. Denis doubled to drive in Waters and later came home on a base hit by Fishback, giving the Brakettes a 3-0 advantage.

Normandin scored again in the second, pushing the Brakettes up 4-0.

Serio launched her team-leading eighth homer in the bottom of the third, giving the Brakettes a 5-0 edge. The Brakettes scored three more in the inning, as Fishback, Mouse and Radomski all crossed home plate. With an 8-0 advantage, the Brakettes needed just to maintain the lead for another run-rule victory.

Fico struck out five over the last two innings to close out the weekend on a high note.

The Tuesday night doubleheader against the St. Louis Saints will be video webcast at brakettes.com, as will be the Wednesday night games against the Polar Crush. All pool play and double-elimination play games from the upcoming Women’s Major Softball Championship will also be video webcast at brakettes.com.