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BRAKETTES BEGIN QUEST FOR NATIONAL TITLE
 August 1 - STRATFORD - The Stratford Brakettes begin their quest for a 36th national title Thursday with a pair of pool play games in the 10th annual Women's Major Softball National Championship tournament at Frank DeLuca Hall of Fame Field.
Nine teams are entered in the event, which features pool play Thursday before going to the double-elimination format Friday. The Brakettes (40-3) will play the New York City Havoc at 6:30 p.m. and the Allentown Patriettes at 8 p.m. at DeLuca Field.
Five games are on tap at DeLuca and two at Short Beach Rec Complex Thursday. Pool play concludes Friday morning before bracket play starts at 12:15 p.m. Following the 1:00 and 2:45 p.m. games Thursday at DeLuca, a team social is set for 5 p.m. with Opening Ceremonies and the parade of teams getting under way at 5:45. Three games are set for DeLuca after the ceremonies and two at Short Beach, starting at 7 p.m.
The St. Louis Saints are the defending champions, having beaten the Bloomington, IL, Lady Hearts in 2017. Their pool includes the Lyons, PA, Spirit and Connecticut Eliminators. Nook Gold of Manheim, PA, Team Connecticut and XTreme Chaos of Stratford are in the third pool.
Manager John Stratton's Brakettes, who won seven straight WMS crowns from 2010-2016, were upset by the Nook Gold in last year's winner's bracket semi-finals and then eliminated by the Spirit to finish fifth.
Stratton will probably send Brandice Balschmiter (10-2) and Kaysee Talcik (12-0), of Shelton, to the mound Thursday. In Wednesday's pre-tournament game against the Saints, Nicole Williams (6-0), of Ansonia, and Raeanne Geffert (5-0), of Seymour divided the pitching chores in a 12-2 Brakettes victory. Balschmiter, who is retiring after the tournament, will be honored in pre-game festivities.
Lauren Pitney, of Ansonia, has taken over the team leadership with a .491 batting average. She is tied with Denise Denis with nine home runs, two behind leader Alex Heinen who also leads with 57 RBI. Jolie Duffner (.455) , Val Suto (.448), Theresa Kane (.436) and Heinen (.427) are the other top hitters.
The Nook is one of the teams expected to contend for the crown. They own an 11-2 overall record, with one of those setbacks to the Brakettes by 6-3 on June 10 in the elimination round of the Cornfield Classic. Todd Garber's club has won two tournaments this summer, most recently the Ron Scheidt title at Lyons, PA, July 24. Anchoring the Nook pitching staff is University of Oregon sophomore Maggie Balint, who was the No. 3 pitcher on the Ducks' top-ranked NCAA Division I team.
Another touted player in the tournament is catcher Libby Sugg, of Nashville, TN, who plays at BYU. She was a third team NCAA All-America and led the Cougars with 14 home runs and 52 RBI.
Tournament passes will be on sale throughout Thursday at the ticket booth. Box seats are $35, reserved seats are $30, and bleacher seats are $25. Brakettes booster club members and families of the players receive $5 discounts on each ticket they purchase.
All WMS games played at DeLuca Field will be video webcast on the Brakettes network at www.brakettes.com. Rob Baird, the team's media director, and Ilan Woll will anchor the broadcast team.
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