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Gabby Laccona has Rare Five-Hit Game in Road Sweep at Lyons, PA 12-4 and 4-1
 July 30 - by Ilan Woll - Following an Allentown rainout and twin victories over the Spirit on Saturday, the Brakettes returned to Lyons Ballfield to continue their storied series. A new Spirit pitcher, Jordan Fortel of Lipscomb University, took the circle to face the Brakettes' Brandice Balschmiter.
Gabby Laccona provided the first of several early opportunities with a single. She then reached third base, thanks to a sacrifice bunt and a ground ball to the right side, but was unable to score.
In the third, one out singles by Laccona and Casey Harding provided another chance. However, Karen Bauer nabbed a line drive, and a ground ball ended the Brakettes opportunity. Similarly in the fourth, Lauren Pitney reached on an outfield error and, with one out was at third base, but Jordan Fortel again kept the Brakettes scoreless.
Brandice Balschmiter meanwhile had only allowed two hits through three innings, when the Spirit gained the lead in the fourth. Liz Gall singled to left, and advanced on a Kaitlyn Caleen sacrifice. Then, with two outs, BYU's Libby Sugg doubled for the first run. Fortel then helped her own cause with a two bagger into the gap for the second run. Following a walk to Sam Sweigert, Liz Asher drove in a run with a line drive to left field. An error scored the final run in the inning for the 4-0 lead.
Laccona started the fifth with a single to center. Jolie Duffner then doubled, holding Laccona at third base. Alex Heinen drilled a single in front of the left fielder to put the Brakettes on the board 4-1.
Gretchen Bunovsky continued her debut weekend with a two out sixth inning single to right. Megan Hodgdon drove a ball to left and a Laccona bloop single loaded the bases. An infield hit by Harding brought home a run. Jolie Duffner then powered a ball over the head of the centerfielder for a bases clearing triple and the 5-4 lead.
The Spirit threatened in their half, as two walks and an infield hit loaded the bases. Balschmiter showed her customary poise though, fielding a grounder and throwing out the runner at home and striking out the final two batters to maintain the lead.
The Brakettes knocked open the gates in the seventh, scoring seven runs with a single by Hodgdon scoring two as well as a two RBI single by Duffner as key hits in the inning for the 12-4 win.
The Brakettes collected twenty hits to power Balschmiter (10-2). Gabby Laccona became the first hitter since Alisa Heronema to gain five hits in a game. Casey Harding and Jolie Duffner each had three hits, with Duffner getting five runs batted in. Lauren Pitney, Gretchen Bunovsky and Megan Hodgdon each had two hit games. Jordan Fortel and Liz Asher also had multi-hit games for the Spirit.
For game two, the veteran arms on the Spirit staff, Jen Shellhammer and Liz Gall shared pitching duties against Kaysee Talcik.
Lauren Pitney provided the first run of the game blasting a one hopper to the 265 foot fence for her eighth home run, and her second inside the park home run. Heather Holly and Molly Keshin then singled before Shellhammer stopped the damage at an early one run lead.
Alex Heinen and Pitney added another run in the third with back to back doubles for the second run.
Kaitlyn Caleen put Lyons on the board with a triple into deep left field. Jessica Strong put an exclamation point on her fine career with the Spirit singling in Caleen to cut the Brakettes lead to 2-1.
After Gabby Laccona tripled in the fourth, she was unable to score. Similarly, the Brakettes loaded the bases in the fifth after a single by Jolie Duffner and Heinen's second double of the game. However, Karen Bauer was able to turn a crucial double play on a line drive to keep the game to one run.
Gretchen Bunovsky however, doubled to left to start the sixth. Casey Harding then singled her to third. A chopper from Duffner drove her in. A fielding error then scored Harding for the final run in the 4-1 win.
Kaysee Talcik (12-0) allowed only four hits and struck out five. Jolie Duffner, Alex Heinen, and Lauren Pitney each had two-hit games.
The Brakettes return to DeLuca Field Tuesday to host Eddie Martz and the St. Louis Saints. Thursday, the Brakettes begin the four day Women's Major Softball National Championships, featuring nine teams. All games at DeLuca Field will be broadcast on Brakettes.com.
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| Sunday, July 29th at Lyons Spirit |
| First Game, 10:00 AM - FINAL |
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Second Game -FINAL |
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| Batteries: Brakettes- Brandice Balschmiter (W, 10-2) and Megan Hodgdon; Spirit- Jordan Fortel (L) and Libby Sugg |
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Batteries: Brakettes- Kaysee Talcik (W, 12-0) and Sam Rodriguez; Spirit- Jenn Shellhammer (L), Liz Gall (5) and Kaitlyn Caleen
Homerun: Brakettes- Lauren Pitney (8) |
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