2011 WMS Tournament

Brakettes Capture 2011 WMS Crown

Sunday, August 7, Game 20, Championship Game - The Stratford Brakettes put the finishing touches on a perfect season on Sunday, winning the 2011 Women's Major Softball National Championship with a 9-0 victory over the St. Louis Saints at DeLuca Field in Stratford. The Brakettes closed out the year with a 63-0 record, eclipsing the 57-0 mark of the 1971 Raybestos Brakettes, the only other undefeated team in the franchise's 65-year history. Stratford has now won a record 119 straight games.

Stratford not only defended its 2010 WMS title, but added to the franchise’s impressive national championship tally. The Brakettes now own 30 national titles, having won 28 national ASA tournaments from 1958-2007, while capturing the last two WMS trophies.

The Saints reached the championship with an 8-3 victory in the loser's bracket final over the New York Raiders on Sunday afternoon. The Brakettes had already advanced to the title game with their 8-0 win over the Saints in the winner's bracket final on Saturday night

Rachele Fico struck out seven Saints in the championship game, giving up just one hit and a walk along the way. Fico finished the season at 29-0 and extended her career record to 72-0 over four seasons.

The Brakettes were the visitors in the matchup, as determined by a pre-game coin flip.

Stephanie Call gave Fico all the run support she would need in the top of the second inning, blasting her team-record 31st homer of the year. The solo shot put Stratford up 1-0 and gave Call her 90th RBI of the season, a new single-season Brakette record. Pat Dufficy previously set the record in 1990 with 89 RBI’s.

The Brakettes extended the lead after tournament MVP Kristyn Sandberg reached on a single. With two outs, Kate Bowen moved Sandberg to second with a single of her own. Alisa Heronema reached on an error by Ashley Hall, loading the bases for Carly Normandin.

Sandberg raced home from third base on a wild pitch for a 2-0 edge, while Bowen and Heronema both moved up a bag. Normandin then singled to plate Bowen for a 3-0 lead.

The Brakettes threatened to break the game open in the second, as four consecutive walks loaded the bases and forced in a run. Free passes were issued to Denise Denis, Call, Mandie Fishback and Sandberg, with the last walk pushing Denis across the plate for a 4-0 lead. However, the next three batters were retired in order to minimize the damage for the Saints.

St. Louis came up in the bottom of the third trailing 4-0, and put together their biggest threat of the night.

Jenna Wood reached on an error to start the third frame, as the usually sure-handed Call saw a grounder kick off her glove. With one out, Hall dropped a bunt back toward the mound. Hall beat it out for a single, and went to second when Fico’s throw to first sailed away from the bag. The errant toss also sent Wood to third, putting two runners in scoring position with just one out.

Fico worked calmly out of trouble, inducing two grounders to third base to retire the side.

Normandin started another rally in the fourth inning, reaching on a base on balls. Ashley Waters sent Normandin to third with a double, bringing up Denis.

The veteran right-fielder contributed a two-run single to score Normandin and Waters for a 6-0 margin, taking second base on the throw home. Denis then scored on a single by Fishback to push the lead to 7-0.

The Saints again put two on in the fourth inning, when Amanda Clack reached on an error by Fishback. A subsequent error by Waters allowed Zoe Sinner to reach, but Fico got the next three batters in order to squash the rally.

Heronema beat out an infield single leading off the fifth inning, then scored on a triple by Normandin. Waters picked up her second hit of the night to send Normandin home, closing out the scoring at 9-0.

Fico returned to the mound in the bottom of the fifth, needing just three outs to secure the championship, due to the run-rule. She struck out two in the inning, before a grounder to Melissa Mancuso at shortstop closed out the contest, sealing the title for Stratford.

Rachele Fico and Brandice Balschmiter, both of whom went 2-0 in bracket play, shared the Joan Joyce Award as the Most Outstanding Pitcher of the tournament. Kristyn Sandberg was named the MVP (Micki Stratton Award), while also taking home the WMS home run title (Pat Dufficy Award) with four long balls.

Ashley Hall of the St. Louis Saints won the WMS batting crown (Diane Schumacher Award), while Bree Turgeon of the Connecticut Mirage took home the Allyson Rioux Award as Best Defensive Player in the tourney.