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Saturday Night
Balschmiter Takes Place Among Legends Against Chaos
 June 24 - Brandice Balschmiter picked up her 184th career win as a Brakette on Saturday night at DeLuca Hall of Fame Field, moving past Donna Lopiano for the fifth-most wins in the franchise's history. The Brakettes claimed a pair of five-inning, run-rule victories over the XTreme Chaos on the night, thanks to Balschmiter's historic decision in the late game, and an overpowering performance by Raeanne Geffert in the early contest.
Val Suto set the table for the Brakettes in the first matchup, smacking a single up the middle and taking second on a wild pitch. Gabby Laccona sacrificed Suto to third, and Briana Marcelino doubled Suto in for an early 1-0 edge.
Lauren Pitney drilled a double to right-center to start the home second, and advanced to third on an illegal pitch. Britt Lampert delivered a single past second base to score Pitney and stretch the lead to 2-0.
Jolie Duffner singled to left with one out in the third and reached second when the ball was misplayed. Marcelino walked to put two on, and a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position. Alex Heinen followed and smacked a single to left to bring Duffner and Marcelino across for 4-0 margin. Pitney came through with her second double of the night, plating Heinen and extending the tally to 5-0.
Stratford starter Geffert (2-0) did not need much run support on a night when she struck out 11 batters and gave up just two hits in five frames, but the Brakettes kept the pedal to the metal.
Molly Keshin started the fourth inning with a single and moved up on a sac bunt by Suto, who reached on an error on the play. The miscue sent Keshin to third. Laccona then dropped a bunt to move Suto up a bag, and beat it out for an infield single. With the bases loaded, Duffner earned a walk to score Keshin, making it a 6-0 game.
Marcelino picked up her second double of the game to send Suto and Laccona home for a commanding 8-0 lead.
Heinen continued the rally and reached on an error, which plated Duffner to push it to 9-0. After Marcelino was forced out at home on a fielder's choice grounder, Heinen scored on a groundout by Heather Holly, closing out the scoring at 10-0.
Victoria Borowski picked up a base hit for the Chaos in the first contest, while Brianna Robinson drilled a double.
Balschmiter (5-1) entered Saturday's nightcap tied with Lopiano for fifth place with 183 wins, and had more than enough run support by the time she took to the circle.
Suto and Laccona offered up back-to-back base hits in the bottom of the first, and moved up a bag apiece on a walk by Duffner. Pitney earned a base on balls with two outs to force in a run, giving the Brakettes a 1-0 margin.
Megan Hodgdon followed and broke the game open with a bases-clearing double to left-center, giving Stratford a 4-0 lead heading into the second inning.
Four walks were issued to the Brakettes to begin the second stanza, with a lone strikeout sandwiched in between. It was Duffner who earned the freebie to score Holly from third, while pushing Laccona and Suto to second and third, respectively. With the infield in, Suto was forced out at home on a grounder by Marcelino for the second out.
Heinen, however, was not to be denied, and drilled a single to right to score two more runs. The Brakettes' advantage stretched to 7-0 on the play, and the bats were not yet done. Pitney singled to left to score Marcelino, and the Brakettes took an 8-0 lead to the third.
The Chaos were finally able to get on the board in the top of the third, when Rachel Newall walked and Diana Budakowski singled. A trio of wild pitches allowed them both to score, closing the gap to 8-2.
 The Brakettes again worked an eight-run margin by scoring two more in the third. Laccona delivered a two-run base hit to right (photo) to score Holly and Keshin with one out, rounding out the tally at 10-2.
Somewhere along the way during her historic performance, Balschmiter hurt herself delivering a pitch. She pushed through the pain to earn the victory, but was replaced by Geffert in the top of the fifth to be cautious. Balschmiter struck out seven and surrendered just one base hit.
Geffert closed out the decision by fanning three batters in the fifth, although Maggie Britt made it interesting with a two-out triple. Geffert ended her evening with 14 strikeouts in six innings of work.
The Brakettes will take on the Stratford Firefighters on Sunday evening at 5:00 at DeLuca Field in a single nine-inning exhibition for charity.
All 2018 Brakettes games are live video webcast on www.brakettes.com.
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| Saturday, June 23rd vs. Xtreme Chaos |
| First Game, 7:00 PM |
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Second Game |
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| Batteries: Chaos- Budakowki (L) and Collette; Brakettes- Raeanne Geffert (W, 2-0) and Sam Rodriguez |
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| Batteries: Chaos- Budakowski (L) and Borowski; Brakettes- Brandice Balschmiter (W, 5-1), Raeanne Geffert (5) and Megan Hodgdon |
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