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Brakettes, Juniors Open Season Friday Night
 June 2 - The Stratford Brakettes and Junior Brakettes will face off Friday night, June 2nd at DeLuca Hall of Fame Field in Stratford, CT. The 7:00 doubleheader marks the beginning of a new chapter for the Brakettes, as newly selected National USA (ASA) Hall of Famer John Stratton passes the baton as field manager to former Brakettes (2017-20) second baseman, Lauren Pitney.
The two squads will meet up again on Saturday night (June 3rd) for another 7:00 doubleheader. The Stratford Brakettes will also play in the Cornfield Classic in Lyons, Pennsylvania next weekend (June 10th-11th).
The Juniors, now in their fifth year of competition, are again managed by former Brakettes (2015-16) catcher Mary Sciglimpaglia, and her father Rob Sciglimpaglia.
Friday’s contests will also mark the first games since the passing of legendary Brakettes General Manager Bob Baird, who ran the franchise for over 35 years. Baird died on New Year’s Eve from interstitial lung disease, just months after he beat leukemia for the second time in six years.
The Brakettes’ returning cast includes UCONN standout Jana Sanden, who captured the 2022 Brakettes Triple Crown, batting .500 with 16 home runs and 55 RBI. Sanden recently finished her junior year for the Huskies, batting .304 with six homers and 34 RBI.
Catcher Kaitlyn Flood (Manhattan College), whose .434 average, 38 RBI and 39 runs scored each placed second on the Brakettes in 2022, will return for her fifth year with the organization. Flood also smacked four homers and led the Brakettes with 45 games played last year.
Aliya Catanzarita (Hofstra) comes back for her second year with the Stratford Brakettes, after competing with the Juniors in 2021. Aliya batted .356 and smashed six home runs with 26 RBI last season. Mac Stone-Folmar (Barry University) will also mark her second campaign with Stratford, following one year with the Select Brakettes in 2021. Mac batted .383 last year and 3 HRs, 24 RBI, and 30 runs scored.
Second-year Stratford Brakette Sarah Rende (Binghampton) batted .295 in 2022, with two HRs, 16 RBI and 24 runs. She will be joined by her sister, Lauren Rende (Manhattan), who hopes to return to form in 2023 after missing last year with an injury. Lauren had an amazing 2021 for the Brakettes, posting nine homers and 45 RBI while batting .430.
Charlee Horton (Weatherford College) will be playing in her third full season with the Brakettes, after batting .295 and drilling five home runs with 19 RBI last year for Stratford.
2022 Select Brakette Juliette Zito (Wheaton College) will debut with the Stratford Brakettes in 2023. Zito showcased her skills last season with a .385 batting average (2nd on Select), leading the club with 47 hits and 35 runs, while playing in all 39 games. Rose Reitmeyer (St. Anselm College) also made the leap from the 2022 Select Brakettes to the major team in 2023, after posting a .338 average with 18 runs, 20 RBI and 12 stolen bases.
Sophia DiCocco (Tufts), who batted .343 for the Juniors last year (and .380 in 2021), will play for the Stratford Brakettes in 2023. She joined the big club for a few games at season’s end last year, going 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA along the way. Nadia Andarowski (Adelphi) will return for the season after pitching in three games (1-1 record) for Stratford last year.
Other newcomers to the Stratford Brakettes include C/1B Kylie Bulinski (Rhode Island), catcher Amanda Hasler (NC State), pitcher Sophia Garner-McKinnon (Duke), and pitcher Jackie Pengel (Syracuse).
The Juniors’ returnees include pitcher Lauren Wasikowski (Rhode Island), whose loan to the Stratford Brakettes late last season helped them capture their 12th WMS Championship, as she finished 8-0 in 10 appearances. Wasikowski started the 2022 season with the Juniors and will again be featured in the Junior Brakettes pitching rotation in 2023.
Kassidy LaTour (Lyman Memorial H.S.) and May Dawes (Stonehill College) are also returning for the Juniors in 2023. Julia Krijgsman (AIC), who made a brief appearance with the Junior Brakettes in 2022, is back for the full season. The Juniors also picked up several former players from the 2022 Select (18U) Brakettes.
Former Select standout (and Wesleyan University) star Molly Lennon (.348 average with 5 HR and 25 RBI in 2022) will move up to the Juniors, as will Nichols College’s Ava Slavinsky (.361 average with 39 hits and 26 runs scored in 2022). Husson University’s Morgan Tainter (.350 average, 28 H, 13 R) will also make the move up to the Junior squad and will be joined by (Husson) collegiate teammate Emily Rerick (.250 batting average; 2-1 in 4 games as pitcher), Cat Palmer (Wesleyan), Juliana Petruzziello (Albertus Magnus), and Gianna Carrano (Albertus Magnus). Other Junior newcomers include Grace Carrington (Maryland) and Cosette Zito (UMASS).
In other related news, the Brakettes Board of Directors recently confirmed Rob Baird as General Manager of Brakettes Softball, a position that his father, Bob Baird, held since 1987.
The Brakettes will host the 15th Annual Women’s Major Softball (WMS) National Championship August 2nd-6th in Stratford, CT.
If you can’t make it to DeLuca Field this weekend… tune in to watch…
All Stratford Brakettes and Junior Brakettes games are live video webcast at www.brakettes.com! |
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