Brakettes Down Diamonds for 60th Victory

August 3, 2013 - The Stratford Brakettes squeezed by the Stratford Diamonds 2-0 in the opening game of a Saturday night doubleheader at DeLuca Field, before sprinting past them 10-2 in a five-inning, run rule-shortened nightcap. The late game was the Brakettes' 60th win of the season.

Steffi Call (24-0) outdueled Diamond starter Alex Puglisi in a good old-fashioned pitcher's duel. Call struck out 11 in the complete-game shutout, while giving up just a hit and a walk.

Puglisi allowed just two runs on six hits, while striking out two Brakettes and walking four.

The Brakettes broke a scoreless stalemate in the home fourth, when Mariel Schlaefer singled with one out. Britt Lampert moved Schlaefer to second with a sacrifice bunt, and a wild pitch pushed her to third.

Kate Bowen roped a triple to score Schlaefer for the 1-0 edge. After Ashley Waters beat out on an infield single, Denise Denis sent Bowen across the plate with an infield single of her own. Bowen's run made it 2-0, and neither pitcher would surrender another run the rest of the way.

Call retired the last 12 batters she faced after Bridget Figmic's single in the fourth, the lone Diamond hit of the game.

The Brakettes jumped up early in the second game, as they plated three first-inning runs off Diamond starter Mikki Keltos.

Allyson Fournier took the circle for just the second time as a Brakette, and dominated for most of the game.

Fournier struck out 12 and did not walk a batter, while giving up four hits, but surrendered two runs in the fourth. She earned her second win of the season with the decision.

Bowen led off the home first with a walk and advanced to second on a sac bunt by Ashley Waters. Denis responded with her 10th homer of the season to give the Brakettes a 2-0 lead. The long ball gave Denis five years with double-digit home runs, making her the only Brakette to ever achieve the milestone.

Call followed and singled to left, then went to second on a bloop single by Becca Carden. Mandie Fishback roped a one-hopper over the fence in left-center, giving her a ground-rule double. The drive scored Call for a 3-0 lead, but made Carden hold up at third.

Keltos retired the next two Brakettes to strand runners at second and third, but the Brakettes already had more runs than they would need.

Both pitchers hurled scoreless second innings, as Fournier was in the midst of an impressive stretch of eight consecutive strikeouts. After giving up a base hit to Brit Longo with one out in the first, Fournier fanned every batter until the Diamonds' rally in the fourth.

The Brakettes put up another three-spot in the third, as Denis doubled with one out. Call lined her 20th home run of the year over the fence on right-center, making her the only Brakette ever to have three 20-home run seasons. She hit 31 in 2011 and 21 last year, giving her 72 home runs in her career, third all-time in franchise history.

The two-run blast stretched the margin to 4-0, and Becca Carden followed with an inside-the-park home run to right field to make it 5-0.

The homer was Carden's third of the year, and her parents Pat and Carol were in the stands from Oklahoma to see the her sprint around the bases.

The Diamonds scored their only runs in the fourth, after consecutive loopers to shallow left field by Puglisi and Longo, who had two hits in the contest.

After Fournier struck out the next two batters, Jess Delawder connected on a two-run double to deep left-center, pulling the Diamonds to within 6-2. Delawder was caught in a rundown after the runs scored, and was retired 7-2-6-5-4 when she was finally tagged out by second baseman Ashley Waters.

The Brakettes tallied four more runs in the bottom of the fourth, securing an eight-run lead entering the fifth.

Bowen roped her second triple of the doubleheader with one out and scored when Denis reached on an error, pushing the lead to 7-2. After Denis stole second, Call was intentionally walked to put two runners on.

Carden smashed a ground-rule double to score Denis and move Call to third, as the Brakettes pushed the lead to 8-2.

Fishback followed with a two-run single to right-center to plate both Call and Carden, giving the Brakettes a 10-2 advantage.

Fournier retired the side in order in the fifth, striking out the last two batters to secure the Brakettes' 60th win of the year in as many games.

The Brakettes will return to action on Tuesday night at 6:00, with a doubleheader against the CT Charmers at Frank DeLuca Hall of Fame Field in Stratford.

All 2013 Brakettes games are live video webcast at brakettes.com.