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Brakettes Earn Sunday Sweep to Open 2018 Season
 June 4 - The Stratford Brakettes kicked off their rain-delayed 2018 campaign on Sunday morning at DeLuca Field, topping the Lyons Spirit, 2-0 and 11-0. A freak storm on Saturday afternoon dumped inches of water on the field in just 20 minutes, rendering the playing surface unplayable, and forcing the cancellation of the scheduled Opening Night festivities.
The two longtime rivals met for the first time since last year's WMS Loser's Bracket contest, which saw the Spirit upset the Brakettes, 5-4, and eliminate them from the nationals.
Brandice Balschmiter took to the circle in the first game for the hometown Brakettes, as she had nearly 200 times before. However, Sunday's start marked the beginning of her final season with the Brakettes, as she recently announced she will retire after the 2018 season. She struck out eight in four hitless innings en route to the victory, the 180th in her career with the Brakettes.
Stratford grabbed the early lead in the home first, as speedster Val Suto led off with a walk. After swiping second base, Suto came home on a single by Bridgeport's own Jackie Brewster (College of the Holy Cross) for the 1-0 edge. Brewster, making her first appearance with the Brakettes, moved up a bag on a groundout, and Jolie Duffner walked with two outs to put runners at the corners. Spirit starter Jenn Shellhammer struck out the next batter to limit the damage.
Lyons had just a first-inning walk to its credit until the top of the fifth, when Elaine Bedell singled off Seymour product Raeanne Geffert, who relieved Balschmiter. The base knock remained the only Spirit hit of the contest.
The Brakettes added a run in the home fifth, when Abby Abramson worked a walk. Theresa Kane, a Mystic native and four-year starter at Georgetown, came in to run for Abramson and promptly stole second. She moved up to third on a ground ball and scored on Brewster's second double of the game.
The 2-0 cushion was more than enough for Geffert, a junior-to-be at Bucknell. After giving up the leadoff single in the fifth, Geffert struck out the next three and retired the last nine batters of the game. She finished with five strikeouts and picked up the save in a solid Brakettes' debut.
Torrington's Ali Dubois (Boston University) picked up the win in the late game, throwing four strong innings and striking out three while allowing just one hit. Stratford jumped all over the Spirit in the second inning of the matchup, as the Brakettes sent 11 batters to the plate and scored seven runs.
Lauren Pitney started the rally with a walk, but was forced out at second on a grounder by Alex Heinen (Boston University). Heinen moved up to second on a groundout, and Megan Hodgdon was hit by a pitch to put two runners on with two outs. Suto reached on an infield single to the left side, and an errant throw by the shortstop allowed Heinen to race home with the game's first tally.
Kane followed and reached on an error, loading the bases with two outs. Denise Denis then smacked a hard grounder to the right side, which resulted in another Spirit defensive miscue, and sent Hodgdon home for a 2-0 lead.
Britt Younan opened the game up with a double to left field, which cleared the bases and extended the margin to 5-0. Younan cruised into third on an infield single by Duffner, who then took second base uncontested. A wild pitch allowed Younan to score and sent Duffner to third, and Brewster came through yet again with an RBI single up the middle for a 7-0 score.
Heinen gave the crowd something to cheer about when she opened up the home third with a towering blast to centerfield, her first home run as a Brakette (photo). The long ball pushed the margin to 8-0, but the Brakettes were not finished yet.
Abramson took over the reins in the top of the fifth and didn't miss a beat. She struck out four and limited Lyons to a lone single in her three-inning stint.
Gabby Laccona walked with one out in the home fifth and raced to third on a double to right-center by Hodgdon. Laccona sprinted home on a groundout by Suto, stretching the lead to 9-0.
Younan led off the bottom of the sixth with a triple to centerfield and scored on a groundout by Samantha Rodriguez (Brooklyn College) for a 10-0 lead. With two outs, Pitney doubled to the gap in left-center and moved to third on a single by Heinen. Laccona followed with a base hit to plate Pitney and close out the scoring at 11-0.
The Brakettes will return to action this weekend, when they travel to Lyons, Pennsylvania for the Cornfield Classic. There will be three preliminary games on Saturday, and an eight-team, single-elimination playoff on Sunday.
All 2018 Brakettes games will be live video webcast at www.brakettes.com.
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Sunday morning, June 3rd, vs. Lyons Spirit
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| First Game, 10:00 AM |
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Second Game |
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| LYONS SPIRIT |
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0 |
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1 |
0 |
| BRAKETTES |
1 |
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1 |
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5 |
0 |
| Batteries: Spirit- Jenn Shellhammer (L) and Kylie Shriner; Brakettes- Brandice Balschmiter (W, 1-0), Raeanne Geffert (5, S) and Samantha Rodriguez, Megan Hodgdon (5) |
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| LYONS SPIRIT |
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2 |
4 |
| BRAKETTES |
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7 |
1 |
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11 |
15 |
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Records: Brakettes- 2-0
Batteries: Spirit- Erica Molinaro (L) and Kylie Shriner; Brakettes- Ali DuBois (W, 1-0), Abby Abramson (5) and Alex Heinen, Samantha Rodriguez (5)
Homerun: Alex Heinen (1) |
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