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Friday Night
Abramson, Balschmiter Fan 16 as Brakettes Defeat Rebels 10-2
 June 16 - by Ilan Woll - The Brakettes were happy to invite a new opponent to DeLuca field as the Ridgefield Rebels made their way to face the Brakettes on their way to a tournament in Watertown, CT, for a special, single nine inning game. Miki Melahn took the circle for the 18U team against Abby Abramson.
After both pitchers threw a perfect first, it seemed like both pitchers had found their groove. However, Trinity College's Gillian Birk launched a riseball to deep right centerfield, over the fence for the early lead.
Stratford took the lead in their half of the second as Jolie Duffner walked and scored on a double by Britt Younan. Lauren Pitney then singled her in and scored on a Gabby Laccona sacrifice fly after two wild pitches for the early lead.
In the third, Val Suto singled and stole second. Britt Lampert celebrated her return to the Brakettes starting lineup with an RBI single to right to extend the home team's advantage (photo).
For the fourth, the Brakettes opened the floodgates as Pitney singled. Gabby Laccona then reached on an unfortunate error caused by the sun's glare affecting the first baseman. Jackie Brewster loaded the bases with a walk, and Megan Hodgdon singled, scoring two. Brewster scored as Suto lined a single over the drawn in infield. A Duffner single and passed ball scored an additional two runs as the Brakettes extended the lead to 9-1.
After Abby Abramson finished her five innings retiring the last ten batters and striking out nine, Brandice Balschmiter returned to the circle in a rare relief appearance. She faced a little trouble in the sixth as a strikeout went past the catcher, and a soft grounder down the first base line was grabbed by Alex Heinen, but the sweep tag did not touch the runner. However, a key strikeout negated the threat.
Stratford added an additional run in the seventh as Duffner singled, and following a wild pitch and passed ball, she scored on a Heinen double to add a run. The Rebels struck back in the eighth as Sammy Chiudina walked and advanced on a fielding error which put Megan Goyda on base. Gillian Birk then added her second extra base hit, a long double to centerfield, scoring Chiudina and putting two runners in scoring position with no outs. However, Balschmiter struck out the side to lock down the 10-2 win.
Abby Abramson (2-0) allowed just one hit over five innings. Brandice Balschmiter earned her fourth save, allowing only one unearned run. The pair combined to strike out sixteen batters in the game. Lauren Pitney singled in all three at bats, scoring twice. Val Suto and Jolie Duffner both added two hit games.
The Brakettes return on Saturday with a traditional double header, facing Team Connecticut. Next Thursday, the Connecticut Eliminators 23U team come to DeLuca for two, with their alumni team playing the Brakettes on Friday. This is followed by a Saturday matchup with the Xtreme Chaos and one week from Sunday, the Stratford Fire Department come for their second annual exhibition.
All games will be broadcast on Brakettes.com
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6:30 p.m. Friday night, June 15th
vs. Ridgefield Rebels
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| RIDGEFIELD REBELS |
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Batteries: Rebels- Miki Melahn (L), Sabrina Grizzaffi (3), Kayleen Walter (7) and Laila Cofone; Brakettes- Abby Abramson (W, 2-0), Brandice Balschmiter (6, S) and Megan Hodgdon, Sam Rodriguez (6)
Homerun: Rebels- Gillian Birk |
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