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Brakettes Split Saturday Night Tilt with Rock
 June 4 - The Stratford Brakettes looked impressive Saturday night in the first game of a twinbill against the Rock Gold (Holland, PA), claiming a 5-1 decision behind Brandice Balschmiter's complete game. However, the Rock Gold stormed back and scored a big 12-1 victory in six innings in the nightcap.
Balschmiter fanned 11 batters along the way to earn the win, giving up just four hits and one walk. She came within one out of a shutout, giving up the only Rock run with two outs in the seventh.
Val Suto set the table for the Brakettes in the bottom of the first, leading off with a double to right. She advanced to third on a wild pitch and raced home with the game's first run on a single by Denise Denis.
Noel Lent helped to add to the tally in the second with a leadoff double (photo), and moved over on a sac bunt by Lauren Pitney. Megan Hodgdon followed and sent Lent home on a groundout to second, stretching the lead to 2-0.
The Brakettes extended the margin in the home third, after Britt Lampert led off with a walk. Suto singled to put two on, and Alexis Bazos sacrificed both runners over a base. With one out, Denis laced a liner to left-center, scoring Lampert and Suto for a 4-0 advantage. Denis came home when Jolie Duffner's hard grounder to short was booted into right field, pushing the margin to 5-0.
Balschmiter breezed through the first six innings before giving up a one-out single to Emma Ritter in the seventh. With two outs, Syd Stephenson singled up the middle to bring the Rock Gold to within 5-1. Balschmiter retired the next batter to close out the victory for the Brakettes.
Nicole Williams took the loss in game two against the Rock Gold, who were again able to wrestle at least one game away from the Brakettes. The Rock Gold lost the first three games in last year's four-game series, only to shut out the Brakettes in the series finale, 1-0. The teams also split a doubleheader in 2015, before the scheduled second night of games was rained out.
The Rock Gold scored four runs in the first inning, after Mackensie Compton led off with a walk. She was sacrificed over on a bunt by Sydney Stephenson and scored on a single by Ashley Worrell. Natashia Rios doubled with two outs to put runners at second and third, and Zoey Jones crushed a three-run homer to make it 4-0.
Rios delivered an RBI single in the third to score Meghan Petty and stretch the lead to 5-0, but the Rock Gold weren't done yet.
Stephenson led off the fifth with a solo shot, extending the cushion to 6-0. Petty singled and moved up on another base hit by Rios. Petty later came home on a groundout by Katie Falotico, while Rios eventually scored on a wild pitch for an 8-0 score.
The Brakettes fought hard in the home fifth to avoid an early exit, scratching together a run to extend the game into the sixth. Hodgdon doubled to right and sprinted home on a single by Pitney for Stratford's lone score, closing the gap to 8-1.
The Rock Gold gave starter Madison Clarke even more wiggle room in the top of the sixth, after Alyssa Catron was hit by a pitch. Stephenson singled to push Catron to second, and a base hit by Worrell brought Catron home for a 9-1 tally. Petty followed and smashed her second homer of the weekend, a three-run shot to close out the scoring at 12-1.
The Brakettes (3-1) and Rock Gold will meet up again for a single game on Sunday morning at 10:00 at DeLuca Hall of Fame Field in Stratford, CT.
All 2017 Brakettes games are live video webcast at www.brakettes.com.
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| Saturday night, June 3rd vs. Rock Gold (PA) |
| First Game, 7PM |
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Second Game |
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Batteries: Rock Gold- Ashley Worrell (L), Madison Clark (5) and Alyssa Catron; Brakettes- Brandice Balschmiter (W, 2-0) and Hannah Cooper
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Batteries: Rock Gold- Madison Clark (W) and Alyssa Catron; Brakettes- Nicole Williams (L, 1-1) and Mary Sciglimpaglia
Homerun: Rock Gold- Zoey Jones, Sydney Stephenson, Morgan Petty |
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