Brakettes Top Hurricanes to Win 2012 FCI Title

July 29, 2012 - The Brakettes defeated the SoCal Hurricanes twice on Sunday morning in Henderson, Nevada to win the 2012 Fastpitch Championship Invitational (FCI). Stratford secured the crown with a 3-2 win, as Becca Carden smashed a go-ahead solo shot in the bottom of the sixth. Earlier Sunday, the Brakettes defeated the Hurricanes 7-0 in five innings to force the 'if' game. They started the morning in the losers bracket final with a 5-0 victory over the SoCal Crusaders.

It took a dramatic comeback win over the Corona Angels on Saturday night for the Brakettes to even reach play on Sunday, but they made the most of the opportunity, never trailing on the last day of the tournament.

The FCI marked the first time the Brakettes captured a tournament final with a win over a California team since the 2007 ASA Nationals, in which Stratford defeated the SoCal Sliders.

Stratford went 7-1 in the championship against all California competition, defeating every team it played at least once. Storm USA was the only squad that the Brakettes did not face.

The Brakettes completed a six-game run out of the losers bracket, after dropping a 4-3 decision to the Hurricanes in the winners bracket quarters on Saturday morning. The defeat was the Brakettes’ first loss to an amateur team since June 4, 2010.

With three wins Saturday, the Brakettes still needed three straight victories on Sunday to capture the title. With temperatures hovering above 100 degrees, the Brakettes started Sunday morning with a 5-0 win over the SoCal Crusaders.

Brandice Balschmiter delivered a dominant performance over the Crusaders, allowing just four hits in a complete game shutout. She struck out five batters, while walking one.

The Brakettes took an early lead with two runs in the bottom of the first, as Alisa Heronema led off with a single. Ashley Waters reached on a fielder’s choice grounder, as Heronema was forced out at second.

Denise Denis drove in Waters with a triple, giving Stratford a 1-0 edge. Stephanie Call reached on an error, allowing Denis to score for a 2-0 lead.

Becca Carden led off the second with a single and was sacrificed over by Jess Mouse. Carly Normandin singled to move Carden to third, putting runners at the corners. Normandin was then forced out at second on a grounder by Kate Bowen, but the fielder’s choice brought Carden home for a 3-0 advantage.

The Brakettes added to the lead with another tally in the fourth inning, as Ashley Waters led off with a double. Denis picked up her second RBI with a single to plate Waters, putting Stratford up 4-0.

Call gave the Brakettes even more breathing room in the sixth with a 250-foot solo shot to right-center.

Balschmiter worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning to secure the win and move the Brakettes into a rematch with the Hurricanes.

Rachele Fico took the mound for Stratford in the championship game, with the Brakettes needing a win to force the “if” game. The Hurricanes needed just one victory to take home the hardware.

Fico delivered a masterpiece against the Hurricanes, who had never lost a game en route to capturing the first two FCI titles in 2010 and 2011. She gave up just four singles in the 7-0, run-rule shortened shutout, striking out five and not allowing a walk.

Mandie Fishback got the ball rolling for the Brakettes in the top of the second, surprising the Hurricanes with a bunt back to starter Jolene Henderson. The University of California star fielded the ball, but rushed and threw it away, allowing Fishback to reach on an error.

The miscue would be costly for the Hurricanes, as Carden followed and nailed a triple into the right-field corner. Fishback scored to give Stratford the 1-0 edge. Mouse then drove in Carden on a fielder’s choice, putting the Brakettes up 2-0.

Call gave Fico some insurance with a solo shot in the third inning, stretching the lead to 3-0. The blast was Call’s 15th of 2012, matching the previous Brakette single-season record, which she demolished in 2011 with 31 long balls.

Waters started a big inning in the fifth for Stratford, leading off with a single. With one out, Call walked to put runners at first and second. Fishback then lined a three-run homer to left, wrapping the shot around the foul pole. The homer was her third of the season and extended the Brakettes’ lead to 6-0.

Carden followed and gave the Brakettes back-to-back homers with a solo blast, bringing the lead to 7-0. That run turned out to be pivotal, as it gave the Brakettes a seven-run cushion.

Fico allowed a single to open the home fifth, but the Hurricanes could not muster a run, and the game was called after five frames due to the FCI’s seven-run mercy rule.

The impressive victory forced the “if” game, which brought Balschmiter back to the circle for another start. The Hurricanes countered with UCLA pitcher Ally Carda.

The winner-take-all matchup had fans on the edge of their seats for its duration, as the game was in question until the final out.

Carden was again the sparkplug in the tournament final, as she led off the second with a double. Carden moved to third on a sacrifice by Mouse, and Normandin drilled a sac fly to bring her home for the game’s first run.

Heronema reached on a walk to start the third, and moved to second on a bunt single by Waters. Denis pulled a single to right, loading the bases with no outs.

Carda responded by striking out Call and Fishback, and seemed to be on the verge of getting out of trouble. However, Carden worked a walk to force in a run for a 2-0 Brakette lead.

First baseman and Team USA member Sam Fischer brought the Hurricanes back to within a run in the fourth, as she led off with a solo home run. The Brakettes held on to a 2-1 lead into the sixth.

B.B. Bates tied it up in the top of the sixth for SoCal with an opposite-field homer to left. The game stood knotted at 2-2 entering the bottom of the sixth.

Carden wasted no time in the home sixth, as the launched a homer to left field to again give the Brakettes a one-run lead.

With a 3-2 advantage entering the seventh inning, Brakette manager John Stratton brought in Fico to get the final three outs.

Fico got Megan Blank to pop out to Waters at second for the first out, but Alyssa Tiamalu sent a single up the middle to put the tying run on base.

Cami Brown grounded up the middle to Fishback, who stepped on second base for the force. Fishback turned her ankle on the play, but would stay in the game after walking it out.

Brown then stole second without a throw to put the tying run in scoring position, bringing up Hallie Wilson.

Wilson played centerfield for the Team USA Junior Nationals, who won the 2011 Junior Women's World Championships. She also delivered the game-tying homer in the top of the seventh of the Hurricanes' 4-3 comeback win over the Brakettes on Saturday morning.

With two strikes on Wilson, Fico floated a well-disguised changeup across the plate, freezing Wilson in the batters’ box. The called strike closed out the game and secured the 2012 Fastpitch Championship Invitational title for the Brakettes.

After seeing their 168-game winning streak come to an end earlier in the week at the Akron Racers, and dropping their first game of bracket play at the FCI, the Brakettes managed to take the long road back from the losers bracket and emerge as champions.

The Brakettes improved to 56-3 on the season with the six-game streak to the title.

Former UMASS All-American Brandice Balschmiter earned the win in the final, her second victory of the day. She pitched 13 innings on the tournament’s final day in the blazing heat. She now stands at 31-2 in 2012.

LSU senior-to-be Rachele Fico won three games in tournament bracket play and took the save in the clincher. She moved her mark to 15-1 on the year.

Former Arkansas Razorback Becca Carden went 4-for-5 in the last two games against the Hurricanes, with two homers, a triple, a double, four runs scored and four runs batted in. She played a part in all three Brakette runs in the "if" game.

Brakette catcher and former Regis University standout (Denver, CO) Alisa Heronema was named the tournament MVP, having started all seven games in bracket play over two days. She had an inside-the-park homer against the Hurricanes on Saturday morning and displayed stellar defense behind the plate.

The 2012 Fastpitch Championship Invitational brought together the best of the east and west, with the unofficial best-of-three between the Brakettes and Hurricanes surely to be remembered by fastpitch fans on both coasts for years to come.