2012 Women's Major Softball
National Championship
August 9-12, Stratford, CT
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Saints Sprint Past Mirage to Reach Championship Game  Sunday, August 12, Game 19 - The St. Louis Saints made quick work of the Connecticut Mirage in the WMS Championship Losers Bracket Final on Sunday morning, cruising to a 13-4 victory in five innings. The game was the third contest of the tournament’s final day moved from DeLuca Field to nearby Short Beach Park, due to standing water in the outfield. The Saints advanced to play the Stratford Brakettes in the Championship Game for the third straight year with the win.Two-time WMS All-Tournament pitcher Amanda Zust earned the win for the Saints, going the distance and scattering six hits, while striking out two. Rachel West and Chelsey Carmody reached on back-to-back, one-out singles in the top of the first. Amanda Clack reached on a fielder’s choice grounder, which saw West cut down at third. The force-out left the Saints with two on and two outs. Dani Brinkman came through with a triple to score Carmody and Clack to take the early lead, 2-0. Mirage starter Whitney Tuthill induced a comebacker by Courtney Kennedy to strand Brinkman at third and get out of the inning. St. Louis was right back at it in the second inning, putting four more runs on the board. Brittney Fisher led off the frame with a walk and scored the third run on a triple by Lindsey Benck. With one out, Ashley Hall grounded out to second, bringing Benck home from third for a 4-0 advantage. West reached on a two-out single and moved up as Carmody reached on an error. West eventually came home on a wild pitch to push the margin to 5-0. Carmody moved up a bag on a walk by Clack and scored when an error allowed Brinkman to reach safely, extending the lead to 6-0. Courtney Kennedy pushed the Mirage to the brink of run-rule territory with a solo home run in the top of the third, stretching the lead to 7-0. Rachel Gill scored the important eighth run in the top of the fourth, after leading off with a single. She went to third on a base hit by Fisher and scored on a passed ball for an 8-0 lead. The Saints blew the game open in the top of the fifth, as they tallied five more runs. 
Jenna Wood led off with a double and scored on a single by Carmody. Clack also picked up a base hit, and came home with Carmody on a double by Dani Brinkman.Brinkman was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple, but the Saints were still not finished. Amanda Zust and Fisher reached on walks and scored on singles by Benck and Kennedy, respectively. With a 13-0 lead, the Saints entered the bottom of the fifth needing just three outs to secure the Championship Game berth. The Mirage did not go down easily, as Taylor Smith led off with a walk. Emily Nalband then singled to put two on with no outs. Jess Tait reached on a fielder’s choice, on which every runner advanced safely. Kelsey Tuthill came up and grounded back to Zust, who went home to force out Smith. The play still left the bases loaded with just one out for the Mirage. April Setterlund gave the Mirage hope for extending the game, as she crushed a grand slam to pull Connecticut to within 13-4. Although the Mirage were down nine runs and still way behind, they could have pushed the game into a sixth inning with two more runs. However, Zust slammed the door shut and retired the next two batters, closing out the victory for St. Louis. The Mirage ended bracket play at the 2012 WMS with a 4-2 record and a franchise-best third place finish. Whitney Tuthill was named the WMS All-Tournament First Team choice at third base, while April Setterlund was tabbed as an All-WMS outfield selection. |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |||||
| ST LOUIS SAINTS | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 15 | 0 | ||||||
| MIRAGE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 1 | ||||||
| Batteries: Saints- Amanda Zust and Brittney Fisher; Mirage-Whitney Tuthill, Bridget Gates (2), Kathleen Conway (4), Lena Springer (5), and Emily Nalbrand Highlights: Saints- West 2-3, Carmody 2-3, Brinkman 2-4, Benck 2-4; Mirage- Settleman 1-3, W. Tuthhill 2-3 Homeruns: Saints- Courtney Kennedy (2), Mirage- April Setterlund (2) |
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