White Plains CitizeNetReporter - Robyn Rips It! Kaci Cruises! Brakettes Crowned ASA Champs, 1-0

WPCNR PRESS BOX. By John F. Bailey. August 19, 2002:Move over Yankees! The Tri-State area has a new National Champion, the Stratford Brakettes.

Robyn King's pinch hit rifle shot back up the middle scored Michelle Gates from third with the lone Championship run in the sixth inning Monday night, as the Stratford Brakettes' meal ticket, Kaci Clark, outduelled the California Hurricanes' masterful Tia Bollinger, 1-0, firing a 2-hit shutout before an appreciative throng of over 1,500 fans in Stratford.

STRIKE TWO! Kaci Clark is one pitch away from the National Championship, as Kelly Peterson of the California Hurricanes watches strike 2 crackle by on the outside corner. Clark got Peterson swinging on the next pitch to win the Brakettes 24th National Championship, concluding the 2002 ASA Women's Major Fast Pitch National Softball Tournament
Photo by WPCNR

Clark retired the last eleven Hurricane hitters in order from the fourth inning on and only two Hurricane runners reached second base, as the former U.C.L.A. star struck out twelve and did not allow a walk, notching victory number 29 on her glove, without a loss.

Bollinger kept the potent Brakette bats in check, stranding 7 Brakettes on the bases through five innings, mixing her fast stuff in with her dazzling LA change-up that had the Brakette Blasters tied up in knots.

A Brakette Brake. The Fateful Walk.

The Brakette brake came in the last of the sixth of a scoreless game. Bollinger walked Nikki Meyers on four pitches. A baserunning gaff seemed to ease the situation when Erica Sobel was caught in a fielder's choice, trying to go from second to third.

Gates' sacrifice bunt had eyes and got past Bollinger to the right of the circle, but Tia spotted Sobel trying to sneak to third. Carri Leto at second, fired to third sacker Chantal Pershing and Sobel was hung out to dry in a perfectly executed rundown, as Chantal chased Sobel back, outran her and tagged her on the back in the dust.

Smith's speed builds the winner.

Jen Smith next up hit a slow roller to the left side that shortstop Kelly Peterson could not turn into a force at second, since she had no shot to get the speedy Smith at first. Infield hit. Two on.

Turning Point of the Game: Mishlan's Elegant Bunt.

With one out and Lea Mishlan and Karrie Rider coming up, the Long Island Angel player watching the game beside me questioned the Brakette strategy to bunt Gates and Smith over, which is what Mishlan did, dropping a beauty down third way, moving the runners up to second and third. That set the stage for Robyn King, who batted for Rider.

King took a strike then with a crack, ripped a shot up the middle off Bollinger, bang bang, scoring Gates. Had the Brakettes not bunted and moved the runners, Gates might not have been able to score from second, the ball got to centerfielder Erin Rahn so fast. 1-0, Brakettes.

STRIKE THREE! Peterson rips and misses at the "Championship Pitch" that clinched the Brakettes National Championship
Photo by WPCNR

An Angel Talks About What it's Like to Face Kaci Clark

Clark's shutout was the second straight Brakette whitewash of the Hurricanes. Long Island Angel centerfielder, Chris Aigotti, who was at the game, talked to WPCNR about what makes Clark so effective.

Aigotti's Angels had only 8 losses this season, and five of them were to the Brakettes. Aigotti knows Clark all too well.

Aigotti said it was Clark's "movement and changing in speeds," was her secret:

"As a hitter, I'm not afraid of speed, but I don't like movement," Aigotti said. "With Casey, you'll never get a good pitch to hit. If you do, you'll probably watch it go by. She'll make you swing and compromise your mechanics (as a hitter). She'll throw at 69 miles an hour one pitch, then show you 42 miles an hour on the next. As a hitter, you want to keep your hands still, but her movement will make you move your hands towards the ball and you're lost. She's one of the best pitchers throwing today."

The Lead-off Walk. Why it happens.

Tia Bollinger, who fanned Germaine Fairchild with a change-up beyond belief to ease out of a bases loaded jam in the fifth, and pitched coolly, brilliantly out of trouble, walked leadoff batter to start the bottom of the sixth.

A pitcher teamate of Aigotti's, also taking in the game, commented on why pitchers walk the leadoff batter. Just such a walk contributed to the Brakette run last night. She said it's mostly nervousness that creates the leadoff walk. "You know you don't want to walk the lead off hitter. So that adds to the pressure, and you stop doing what you've been doing."

INSTANT CHAMPS:The Brakettes celebrate the final strike that gave them a 78 and 1 record and the ASA National Women's Championship. Clark is Number 15.
Photo by WPCNR

CHAMPS HOLD THE TROPHY HIGH. It was the Brakettes' 24th National Championship, their first since 1992. for more on the big game, go to www.brakettes.com.
Photo by WPCNR


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