Saturday Night
Brakettes Take Pair of 6-4 Wins
June 26 - By Connor Pignatello - The crowd knew it as soon as the ball left Lauren Rende’s bat.
Rende hit a two-run walkoff home run in the eighth inning to beat the Maryland Chill 6-4 as the Brakettes survived their largest scare of the season to increase their record to 15-0.
Rende tied the game with a solo home run in the sixth inning and then won it for the Brakettes with a two-run bomb in her next at-bat.
“I had to adjust to her pitching, she wasn’t really throwing anything that was allowing any hits -- Outside, low, slow. I had to foul off some and then wait for my pitch and then see that pitch and drive it.”
Brakettes starter Sydney Senerchia did not allow a hit through her first three innings of work and struck out seven, but ran into trouble in the fourth. Ashley Cheung singled to lead off the inning, and Delaney Ridgell and Abby Wierich hit back-to-back doubles to put the Chill on the board. Reilly Vicendese, who also made several stellar plays in the field, hit an RBI single to put Maryland up 3-0.
But the Brakettes responded in the bottom of the inning. Lauren Rende reached on an error, and Jana Sanden and Kaitlyn Flood singled to load the bases. Chill pitcher Jenna Leydecker nearly got out of the jam when Katie Sciglimpaglia grounded into a double-play, but Gillian Birk hit a two-out two-run home run to tie the game.
A pair of Brakettes’ errors gifted the Chill a run in the fifth inning, which put the Brakettes in the rare position of a late-game deficit.
After five innings of work, Senerchia was replaced by Sarah Lawton, who earlier had pitched a complete game against the Junior Brakettes in the second game of the round robin triple header. Including her two complete games against the Junior Brakettes on June 24, she had pitched 21 innings in three days before her relief appearance.
Despite arm fatigue, Lawton pitched three perfect innings of relief. She struck out six, including the last four batters she faced.
But Lauren Rende would not allow Stratford to lose their first game of the year. She led off the sixth inning with a solo home run to tie the score.
In Stratford’s first extra inning game of the year, Val Suto led off the eighth inning with a single, took second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a sacrifice fly. But Rende did not try for small ball to drive in the winning run. Her two-run shot cleared the fence in center field easily. She was mobbed by her teammates at home plate.
In yesterday’s doubleheader, Stratford dominated Maryland pitching to win 16-0 and 13-2. The Chill drove six and a half hours to the Brakettes and were unable to stop at their hotel beforehand. After getting some rest, they beat the Junior Brakettes 6-5 and nearly edged out the Brakettes in extra innings.
“Thank God,” said Rende after her two-run walk off blast. “I’m very happy, teammates cheering for me, that’s all you need.”
Earlier the Brakettes overcame a slow start to beat the Junior Brakettes 6-4 tonight in the second game of a triple-header. In the first matchup, the Maryland Chill outlasted the Junior Brakettes 6-5.
The Junior Brakettes jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the second inning thanks to a two-run single by designated player and pitcher Ali Blanchard. Junior Brakettes starting pitcher Jenna Geffert retired the first ten batters she faced before she was replaced after allowing back-to-back singles to Emma Larke and Lauren Rende.
Ali Blanchard took the mound with one out in the fourth inning and was immediately punished -- Jana Sanden cracked a three-run home run on Blanchard’s third pitch of the night.
The Brakettes continued to hit for power as the game went on. Gillian Birk led off the fifth inning with a solo shot and Katie Sciglimpaglia launched a two-run home run in the sixth.
Brakettes’ starter Sarah Lawton allowed four runs on seven hits in her seven innings of work, walking none and striking out ten.
In the seventh, Maddie Procyk cut the Junior Brakettes deficit in half with a two-run blast, but the Brakettes held on for the victory.
