Fishback, Mouse to the Rescue at Lyons Ballfield

June 15, 2014 - The Lyons Spirit pushed the Brakettes to the brink in the second game on Sunday, as they had the four-time defending WMS champs within an out of a historic upset. But with the Brakettes down 6-5 with two outs in the seventh and no one on, Mandie Fishback delivered a clutch double to left-center. Jess Mouse followed and drove in Fishback with a single to tie it up, and the Brakettes went on to win 9-6 in eight innings. The Brakettes also took the opener, 1-0.

On a beautiful Fathers' Day afternoon in the rolling hills of Lyons, PA, the pair of friendly foes entertained the fans in attendance with 15 innings of captivating softball at Lyons Ballfield. The Spirit overcame a five-run deficit in the fourth inning, marking the greatest comeback against the Brakettes in more than two decades.

Allyson Fournier threw a one-hitter with 14 strikeouts in the early game to secure a 1-0 decision, a hard-fought win in an old-fashioned pitcher's duel. The only hit allowed by the senior-to-be at Tufts was a bunt single by Courtney Hughes in the fourth frame. She walked two batters and hit one in seven innings of work, but made the slimmest of leads seem insurmountable with an overpowering performance.

Spirit starter Liz Gall held the Brakettes scoreless until the sixth inning, when Denise Denis reached on a bunt single and moved to second on a sacrifice by Elise Fortier. Fishback came through with a timely double, plating Denis for the only run of the game.

Fournier retired the side in order in the sixth and squashed a potential rally in the seventh to secure the 1-0 win.

Brandice Balschmiter (3-0) started strong in the late matchup for the Brakettes and struck out six in the first three innings, while striking out the side in the third. She allowed just a single during the first time through the order, before finding trouble in the fourth inning.

The Brakettes quickly cracked the scoreboard in the top of the first, after Denis reached on a two-out walk. Denis stole second base and was driven in on a single by Fortier, who advanced to second when the throw from the outfield went home. Fishback followed and delivered a base hit of her own, scoring Fortier from second for a 2-0 lead.

Bri Chiusano started the next scoring opportunity for Stratford with a leadoff infield single in the third. Denis smashed a towering fly to right-center to score the speedy Chiusano, and then raced around the bases in search of her second inside-the-park homer in as many days. Denis would come up short of the feat, as she was tagged out at the plate after a perfect relay from the outfield.

Stratford added to the 3-0 advantage in the fourth, as Tatum Buckley led off with a single. Britt Lampert pushed Buckley to second with a sac bunt. Quianna Diaz-Patterson reached on an infield single, bringing Chiusano back up with two on.

Chiusano drilled a fly ball to right, which kicked off the glove of the right-fielder. Buckley and Diaz-Patterson came home on the miscue, extending the lead to 5-0.

As the teams entered the home fourth, the Lyons prepared to end a scoreless drought against the Stratford, which had posted seven straight shutouts over the Spirit. With five runs allowed through the first four innings, the Spirit had been outscored 52-0 by the Brakettes on the year. That all changed with a momentous effort in the bottom of the fourth by Lyons.

Danielle Kitchen started the rally for Lyons with a single to right. Gall delivered a double to score Kitchen, giving the Spirit their first run of the year against the Brakettes. Hughes walked to put two on with no outs, bringing Sarah Maulorico to the plate.

Maulorico drove a double to plate two more runs, as Gall and Hughes raced home to pull within 5-3. Liz Parkins moved Maulorico to third with a single, putting runners on the corners. Krista Schauder blasted a triple to score both runners, pulling Lyons even with the Brakettes at 5-5.

Jordyn White took over the pitching duties from Liz Parkins in the fifth inning for Lyons, after being handed a clean slate in a tie game.

After both teams were held scoreless in the fifth and the Brakettes went down in order in the sixth, the Spirit claimed their first lead of the game.

With one out and the bases empty, Sarah Bencivenga blasted a shot to left-center which rolled to the fence. She circled the bases and raced home after the relay throw missed the cutoff, giving Lyons their first lead, 6-5. Unable to add to the margin, the Spirit took the field in the top of the seventh in search of three outs and their first-ever win over the Brakettes.

After consecutive groundouts to start the top of the seventh, the table was set for Fishback's heroics. The suspense built as Fishback doubled to provide the Brakettes new hope with two outs. A collective sigh could be heard in the park when Mouse's single drove in Fishback to tie the score at 6-6.

Fournier came on in relief for the Brakettes in the bottom of the seventh and worked out of a jam. After Hughes reached on an error, she took two bases when a pitch kicked away from home plate and got lost near the backstop. Fournier conjured up a strikeout and a fly ball to shallow left, then another strikeout to close out the threat.

With a 6-6 tie after seven frames, the teams prepared for extra innings. Parkins returned to the circle for Lyons to try to tame the Brakette bats.

With one out in the eighth, Diaz-Patterson singled up the middle. Chiusano reached on an error and Denis singled, loading the bases for the Brakettes. After a popup for the second out, Fishback grounded to the left side. The hard grounder kicked away from the shortstop, allowing two runs to score for an 8-6 Stratford advantage. Mouse delivered a single to score Denis, stretching the margin to 9-6.

After giving up a single and a walk in the bottom of the eighth with one out, Fournier retired the next two batters to earn the victory in relief. The Brakettes improved their record on the season to 10-0 with the come-from-behind win, as Fournier upped her mark to 6-0.

The Lyons Spirit dropped to 8-8 with the loss, but gave the Brakettes and their faithful fans a genuine scare in the process.

The Brakettes will return to action on Thursday night at DeLuca Field in Stratford with a nine-inning, 6:30 game against the CT High School All-Stars.

All 2014 Brakettes' games are live video webcast on www.brakettes.com.