2012 Women's Major Softball
National Championship
August 9-12, Stratford, CT
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Mirage Continue to Advance in Losers Bracket  Sunday, August 12, Game 18 - The Connecticut Mirage continued their improbable run through the Losers Bracket of the 2012 WMS Championship on Sunday morning, advancing to the Losers Bracket Final with a 9-6 win over the Lyons Spirit (Lyons, PA).After posting a forfeit in their opening Winners Bracket Quarterfinal and losing 2011 WMS Best Defensive Award winner Brianna Turgeon to a pool play injury, the Mirage have come back to win four straight games in the Losers Bracket. Included in those victories was a 4-2 win over the 2009 WMS Champion NYC Havoc and a 5-1 decision over the 2011 WMS third-place New York Raiders. The Mirage started their run with a 5-1 victory over the CT Eliminators 23-Unders. The Spirit opened the WMS with a Winners Bracket Quarterfinal win over the CT Eliminators 23-Unders, but then dropped into the Losers Bracket with an 11-0 loss to the Stratford Brakettes. The Spirit battled back with a 5-4 win over the CT Charmers, setting up the contest with the Mirage. The Mirage jumped up early with a four-run top of the first, as Jess Tait led off with a single. An error on Kelsey Tuthill’s sac bunt attempt put two in scoring position with no outs, and April Setterlund took advantage of the opportunity. Setterlund singled to drive in both Tait and Kelsey Tuthill for a 2-0 lead, then stole second and scored on a triple by Whitney Tuthill. Kathleen Conway picked up a base hit to score Whitney Tuthill, closing out the first with Connecticut up, 4-0. The Mirage added to the lead with another run in the third inning. Setterlund led off and doubled and took third on a sac bunt by Whitney Tuthill. Setterlund then stole home to push the margin to 5-0.  Lyons fought back with three runs of their own in the bottom of the third.Mergan Greiss reached on a one-out error and moved up a bag on a base hit by Karen Bauer. Elaine Bedell dropped a sac bunt to move both runners over, but a throwing error allowed both runners to score and sent Bedell to second. Danielle Kitchen scored Bedell on a single, cutting the deficit to 5-3 after three in the books. The Mirage extended out to a five-run lead again in the next inning, as they scrapped to put three more runs on the board. Bridget Gates and Taylor Smith both singled and scored, stretching the lead to 7-3. Emily Nalband reached on a fielder’s choice and scored on a base hit by Kelsey Tuthill, pushing the margin to 8-3. The Spirit once again closed in on the Mirage, scoring three runs in the bottom of the fifth with two outs. Bedell singled and stole second, then came home on a base hit by Kitchen. The run narrowed the gap to 8-4. Liz Gall cranked a triple to score Kitchen and then came home on a single by Courtney Hughes, as the Spirit drew to within 8-6. The Mirage worked themselves an insurance run in the top of the seventh, as Setterlund led off with a single. Setterlund stole second base and scored on a base hit Whitney Tuthill, closing out the scoring at 9-6. The Spirit could not muster a run in the last of the seventh, and were eliminated from the tournament. The Lyons Spirit finished the 2012 WMS Championship in fourth place, their best-ever finish in the four-year history of the event. Spirit shortstop/second baseman Courtney Hughes was selected as the 2012 Allyson Rioux Award Winner, handed out to the best defensive player in the tournament. Spirit Catcher Sarah Maulorico was named to the 2012 WMS All-Tournament Team. |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |||||
| MIRAGE | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 14 | 1 | ||||
| SPIRIT | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 3 | ||||
| Batteries: Mirage- Lena Springer, Bridget Gates (3), Kate Conway (6) and Emily Nalband; Spirit- Liz Gall (L) and Denise Henderson Highlights: Mirage- Tait 3-4, Setterlund 3-3; Spirit- Bauer 2-3, Kitchen 2-3 |
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