|
|
Saturday Night
Brakettes Advance to WMS Final With 9-2 Win
 Aug 7 - By Connor Pignatello - Sarah Lawton allowed just three hits and the Brakettes beat the Select Brakettes 9-2 to advance to the final of the WMS national tournament. Briana Marcelino hit a two-run home run as one of six Brakettes to register an RBI.
“You learn something new every time you play them and mix pitches a lot more,” Lawton said after her second start against the Select Brakettes in the span of ten days.
Lawton allowed two unearned runs off three hits with nine strikeouts. In three tournament games, she has allowed just six hits and no earned runs. It was set to be her fourth consecutive shutout, but a pair of Brakette errors with two outs in the seventh allowed the Select Brakettes to score twice.
In the fourth inning, the Brakettes endured a scary moment. On a Mac Stone-Folmar double off the fence in left-centerfield, Val Suto dove into the fence and injured her knee, forcing her out of the game.
Select Brakettes starter Payton Doiron continued a heroic streak of pitching -- she has thrown 14 innings in the past two days. Doiron gave up two runs on five hits before Kelly Pritchard replaced her to start the fifth inning. In the quarterfinals earlier in the afternoon, Doiron allowed just one run on two hits in a win over the Stripes and Strikes. On Friday against Diamond Zone, the Bentley sophomore tossed three shutout innings in relief to secure the victory.
In the fifth frame, the Brakettes capitalized on a controversial call on the bases to score four runs. With one out and the bases loaded, Katie Sciglimpaglia hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield. Rebecca Findley scored easily, but catcher Rebecca Mauro cut the throw off and threw to third base to try to catch Emma Larke advancing from second base. Emily Stefanelli appeared to apply the tag on time -- and the Select Brakette parents in the stands certainly thought she did -- but Larke was ruled safe.
The next at-bat, Larke scored on a wild pitch and Briana Marcelino crushed a two-run home run to give the Brakettes a 6-0 lead. After the home run, Stratford loaded the bases to put the game-ending run in scoring position, but Gillian Birk flew out to end the threat.
The Brakettes improve to 4-0 against the Select Brakettes this season. On July 17, Ali DuBois pitched a 4-inning no-hitter in a lightning-shortened game. On July 28, Stratford swept a doubleheader and won the second game on Lauren Rende’s fourth walkoff hit of the year.
The Brakettes play in the final Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
|
Women's Major Softball Tournament
Bracket Play, Game #17
Saturday, August 7, 7:15 p.m.
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
4 |
5 |
6 |
|
7 |
|
|
R |
H |
E |
| STRATFORD BRAKETTES |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
2 |
4 |
0 |
|
3 |
|
|
9 |
10 |
3 |
| SELECT BRAKETTES |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
2 |
|
|
2 |
3 |
1 |
Batteries: Stratford Brakettes- Sarah Lawton (W, 17-2) and Kaitlyn Flood; Select Brakettes- Payton Doiron (L), Kelly Pritchard (5) and Rebecca Mauro
Homerun: Stratford Brakettes- Briana Marcelino (10) |
|
