2013 Women's Major Softball
National Championship
August 8-11, Stratford, CT
• Welcome |
| • Event Schedule |
| • Tickets |
| • Teams / Rosters |
| • Team Pix |
| • Pools / Scores |
| • Brackets / Scores |
| • Linescores |
| • WMS Photos |
| • Awards |
| • Write-ups |
• Brakettes' site |
| • WMS Tourneys |
Charmers Clinch Spot in WMS Title Game  Sunday, August 11, Game 13 - The Connecticut Charmers continued their run in the 2013 Women’s Major Softball National Championship behind the strong left arm of Sydney Matzko, blanking the Lyons Spirit (PA) 2-0 in the WMS Losers Bracket Final on Sunday morning.The Charmers moved into Sunday’s championship game against the Stratford Brakettes, who gave the Charmers their lone loss of WMS play with a 3-1 decision in Saturday night’s Winners Bracket Final. Matzko struck out five in a complete-game two-hitter, as she had her way through a veteran Spirit lineup. She flirted with a perfect game into the sixth inning and did not walk a batter. The Torrington (CT) High School pitcher is headed to the University of North Carolina after her upcoming senior year, but has proven to be mature beyond her years in the circle. Lori Kwiatkowski broke up Matzko’s attempt at perfection with two outs in the sixth inning, but was stranded there as Matzko struck out the next batter. Matzko and Spirit starter Jenn Shellhammer traded scoreless innings through the first four frames, before the Charmers used some small ball to take the lead in the fifth. Shellhammer struck out three through four innings and did not allow her first hit until Tatum Buckley led off the fourth with a single. Shellhammer walked Katie Petroski to start the fifth inning, prompting a sacrifice from Harleigh Kaczegowicz. The bunt pushed Petroski to second and into scoring position.  Siarra Harrington followed and pulled a grounder just inside the third base bag and into left field. The single brought Petroski home, giving the Charmers a 1-0 edge.Hannah Ford singled with two outs to put runners at the corners for the Charmers, but Danielle Thacker came on in relief to strike out the batter and limit the damage to one run. After the Spirit went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the fifth, the Charmers came up again in the top of the sixth with an insurance run on their wish list. Alyssa Rodia led off with a single and was sacrificed over on a bunt by Taylor Luzzi. Small ball again worked well for the Charmers, as Brittany Allocca delivered an RBI single to left field to plate Rodia for a 2-0 margin. Elaine Bedell started the home seventh for the Spirit with a single and stole second, but was stranded at third after Matzko retired the last three batters on groundouts to secure the victory. The Spirit were eliminated from in the 2013 Women’s Major Softball National Championship with the loss, but they finished in third pace with a 3-2 record in bracket play, their highest finish to date. Lyons also went 1-1 in Thursday's pool play. |
| Losers Bracket Final | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |||||
| CHARMERS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | ||||
| SPIRIT | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Batteries: Charmers- Sydney Matzko (W) and Brittany Allocca; Spirit- Jenn Shellhammer (L), Danielle Thacker (5) and Sarah Maulorico |
||||||||||||||
Back