Brakettes Tested in PA; Remain Unbeaten

June 9, 2013 - The Stratford Brakettes continued their unbeaten ways with a pair of wins over the Lyons Spirit on Sunday in Lyons, PA. While they cruised 11-3 in the early contest, the Brakettes had to fight to secure a 1-0 victory in the late game.

Spirit starting pitcher Liz Gall held the Brakettes scoreless until two outs in the seventh inning of the second game, when Jess Mouse delivered an RBI single to score Elise Fortier, who led off with a triple.

The first matchup was not nearly as close, despite three errors by the Brakettes, as they scored 11 runs on 15 hits.

Sam Greiner (3-0) earned the win in the game, allowing just four hits, while walking two and hitting two batters. Greiner went the distance and pitched through discomfort, as she battled a blister on her throwing hand.

The Brakettes scored twice in the first inning, helped out by a Spirit miscue.

Ashley Waters and Denise Denis earned consecutive walks and stood at first and second when Elise Fortier lofted a popup to the right side. With two outs, Waters scored from second when the pop fly was dropped at first base. Denis continued to run and ended up at third base. Mandie Fishback followed with a single to score Denis, putting Stratford up 2-0.

Greiner got in trouble in the first inning, as she loaded the bases after a throwing error and a pair of walks. Danielle Kitchen and Liz Gall earned the free passes, with Kitchen scoring the first run for Lyons when Kali Shirk was hit by a pitch by Greiner. The Brakette starter was then able to wiggle out of trouble without any more damage.

The Brakettes extended the lead with a four-run second inning, as Mouse led off with the first of her five hits on the day. Mariel Schlaefer reached on an error to put two on, and Kate Bowen moved both runners over with a sacrifice.

Mouse tagged up and raced home on a sac fly by Waters, pushing the lead to 3-1. Schlaefer also tagged up and advanced to third on the play. Denis followed and walked, giving Steffi Call runners at the corners with two outs. Call pushed the lead to 4-1 with an RBI single, which moved Denis to second.

Fortier drove in both Call and Denis with a one-hopper to the 265-foot fence in left, becoming a part of the "Elite Hitters Club" at Lyons Ballfield. Although she was stranded at third to end the inning, the blast stretched the Brakettes' advantage to 6-1.

Lyons narrowed the gap in the home fifth, as Karen Bauer and Elaine Bedell reached on base hits. Danielle Kitchen reached on an error to load the bases, bringing Gall to the plate. Gall launched a sac fly to center to plate Bauer, while Bedell got caught in a rundown between second and third. Bedell avoided a tag long enough to induce an errant throw, allowing Bedell to score on the error. The two runs brought the Spirit close again, drawing to within 6-3 of the Brakettes.

Stratford gave Greiner some more separation in the sixth with three more scores, pushing the margin to 9-3.

Steffi Call led off with a triple and was pinch-run for by Britt Lampert. Fortier walked, as did Fishback, loading the bases. Becca Carden flied out to left field, and Lampert was called out after tagging up, as she was ruled to have left third too early.

With two outs, Mariel Schlaefer delivered an RBI double to score two runs, pushing the lead to 10-3. Mouse came in on a wild pitch to close out the scoring at 11-3.

The second game was a pitchers' duel from beginning to end. Steffi Call went the distance for the Brakettes, striking out three and allowing just two hits.

Liz Gall's second straight solid outing against the Brakettes gave the Spirit a fighting chance, as she allowed just three hits through six innings. However, Fortier provided the spark in the top of the seventh for the Brakettes to break the stalemate.

Fortier smashed her second one-hopper to the fence in as many games, becoming the first woman at Lyons Ballfield in recorded history to one-hop two balls to the fence in the same day. Only three players have hit the fence in the air, including former Brakette Beth Boden.

After Gall recorded two outs, Mouse came to the plate and offered up her fifth hit of the afternoon, a single to plate Fortier with the go-ahead run.

The Spirit could not muster a last-inning run off Call, who improved to 5-0 with the victory.

The Brakettes improved to 10-0 on the season, while the Spirit dropped to 7-4.

The Brakettes return to action on Thursday for a single, nine-inning game at DeLuca Hall of Fame Field against the CT High School All-Stars at 6:30.

All Brakettes' home games are video webcast on brakettes.com.