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Saints Send Brakettes to Loser's Bracket
 Aug 5 - The St. Louis Saints held on for a 6-5 win over the Stratford Brakettes in the Winner's Bracket Final of the 2018 Women's Major Softball National Championship on Saturday night in Stratford, CT.
The Brakettes went up early with a pair of first inning runs, but found themselves trying to claw back from a 6-2 deficit after four frames. Stratford posted one run in the fifth and two in the seventh, but left two runners on as Saints starter Madi Norman shut down the rally.
The Brakettes will have to win three games on Sunday if they wish to reclaim the WMS title, while the Saints need just one to repeat as champions.
Val Suto got the Brakettes going with a leadoff walk in the first inning. Theresa Kane sacrificed Suto over, and everyone was safe when the throw went to second base. With one out, Jolie Duffner reached on an infield single to load the bases. A wild pitch sent Suto home for a 1-0 lead and pushed runners to second and third. Alex Heinen followed with an infield single, scoring Kane from third, and stretching the cushion to 2-0.
Brandice Balschmiter started for the Brakettes and struck out two in a hitless first inning, but fell to all fours while throwing a warmup pitch prior to the second inning. After a lengthy delay, Brandice left the field on a stretcher for evaluation of a back injury. Balschmiter, who will retire after the close of play on Sunday at the WMS, has worked through various injuries over the last couple years.
Raeanne Geffert came on in relief of Balschmiter after a 30-minute stoppage of play. Katelyn Massa walked to lead off, and came home on a triple by Cortney Krodinger. A wild pitch sent Krodinger home with the equalizer, leaving the game knotted at 2-2 after two innings.
Brit Krodinger led off the top of the third with an infield single, and moved over to second on a bunt single by Bailey Lange. Sammey Bunch lined a double to right to plate Krodinger, giving St. Louis a 3-2 lead. Lange raced to third on the play, which chased Geffert from the game. Kaysee Talcik worked the rest of the way for the Brakettes, and inherited runners at second and third.
Lange eventually crossed home plate on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 4-2, and the Saints would add to the margin in the fourth.
With two outs, Brit Krodinger walked and moved up on a single by Lange. Bunch followed and smacked a hard single to left. The ball kicked away from the leftfielder, scoring Krodinger and Lange on the play. The 6-2 margin would stand until the fifth, when the Brakettes started to scrape away at the lead.
Megan Hodgdon walked to start the fifth frame and moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Suto. Hodgdon reached third on a groundout by Theresa Kane, and came home on a wild pitch to narrow the gap to 6-3.
Madi Norman retired the next batter to close the fifth, and stranded two runners in the sixth to hold the 6-3 margin into the seventh.
Suto and Kane singled to start a Brakette rally in the home seventh. With one out, Jolie Diffner reached on an error, loading the bases. With two away, Briana Marcelino ripped a single to left-center to score two runs and close the gap to 6-5.
Norman then struck out Lauren Pitney to squash the Brakettes' chances and advance the Saints in to Sunday's Championship Game.
St. Louis is sitting pretty and will await the survivor of the loser's bracket. Meanwhile, the Brakettes will take on one of the other four remaining teams that have one loss. The Lyons Spirit will play the Nook Gold at 8 am, and the New York City Havoc and Connecticut Eliminators will battle in the other loser's bracket contest Sunday morning.
The winners of those two matchups will meet in another elimination game at approximately 12 noon, and the winner of that contest will take on the Brakettes for a chance to take on St. Louis in the Championship Game.
Before the tough loss to the Saints, the Brakettes defeated the Connecticut Eliminators 11-0 in the semifinals.
Suto beat out a bunt single to start the game, as the Brakettes were the visitors for the matchup. Suto sprinted to second base as the throw sailed away, and scored when Kane singled to right. Denise Denis sacrificed Kane over, and a base hit by Duffner put runners at the corners. Heinen walked to load them up for Lauren Pitney, who worked a walk to push home the Brakettes' second run.
Gabby Laccona blasted a grand slam to open the game up and push the Stratford lead to 6-0.
Duffner walked with one out in the third and Heinen singled to put two on. With two away, Lauren Pitney smashed her tenth homer of the season to extend the margin to 9-0.
Duffner reached on an error in the fifth and moved up on a groundout. A base hit by Pitney brought Duffner home from second for a 10-0 score, and Pitney took second on the throw home. Laccona delivered another single to plate Pitney, rounding out the scoring at 11-0.
Kaysee Talcik struck out four in five innings for the Brakettes to improve to 13-0 for the year. She scattered two hits and did not walk a batter.
The Brakettes will play at approximately 12:00 noon on Sunday for a chance to move on to the Championship Game.
All 2018 WMS games at DeLuca Field are live video webcast at www.brakettes.com.
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WMS Tournament Bracket Game #13
late Saturday, Aug 4th
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2 |
3 |
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4 |
5 |
6 |
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7 |
8 |
9 |
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R |
H |
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| STL SAINTS |
0 |
2 |
2 |
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2 |
0 |
0 |
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0 |
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6 |
7 |
2 |
| BRAKETTES |
2 |
0 |
0 |
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0 |
1 |
0 |
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2 |
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5 |
7 |
2 |
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Batteries: Saints- Maddie Norman (W) and Katelyn Massa; Brakettes- Brandice Balschmiter, Raeanne Geffert (2, L, 6-1), Kaysee Talsic (3) and Megan Hodgdon. (Brandice Balschmiter fell to the ground and suffered a lower back injury warming up for the second inning, and was taken to Bridgeport Hospital for evaluation) |
Box Score
WMS Tournament Bracket Game #10
Saturday evening, Aug 4th
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2 |
3 |
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4 |
5 |
6 |
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7 |
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H |
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| BRAKETTES |
6 |
0 |
3 |
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0 |
2 |
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11 |
9 |
0 |
| ELIMINATORS |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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0 |
0 |
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0 |
2 |
2 |
Batteries: Brakettes- Kaysee Talcik (W, 14-0) and Sam Rodriguez; Eliminators- Kristi Van Meter, Morgan Perry (4) and Madeira Alexander
Homerun: Brakettes- Gabby Laccona (2, grand slam), Lauren Pitney (10) |
WMS Tournament Bracket Game #4
7:00 PM Friday, Aug 3rd
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1 |
2 |
3 |
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4 |
5 |
6 |
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7 |
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| BRAKETTES |
3 |
4 |
2 |
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3 |
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12 |
13 |
2 |
| XTREME CHAOS |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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0 |
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0 |
2 |
2 |
Batteries: Brakettes- Raeanne Geffert (W, 6-0) and Megan Hodgdon; Chaos- Morgan Kasabi (L) and Abby McDonald
Homerun: Brakettes- Megan Hodgdon (3), Briana Marcelino (5) |
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