Box Score | Brakettes Website | Team USA Website
It was an opportunity of a lifetime for four UMass softball players on Sunday night, as their summer team, the Stratford Brakettes, took on the greatest softball team ever assembled, the 2008 United States National Team, at DeLuca Field in Stratford. Despite Team USA coming away with a 9-0 win in the nine-inning affair, the players gained valuable experience and memories that will surely last a lifetime. Two UMass alums also played in the game for the Brakettes.
Brakettes Official Website | Team USA Official Website
UMass softball players Brandice Balschmiter, Whitney Mollica, Bailey Sanders, and Jessica Serio will face the stiffest competition of their careers on Sunday, July 20 when their summer team, the Stratford Brakettes, takes on the U.S. Olympic team in an exhibition game at DeLuca Field in Stratford, Conn. Also playing for the Brakettes are two former UMass stars in Danielle Henderson and Denise Denis. The sold-out game is slated for 7 p.m. and is part of USA Softball's Bound 4 Beijing Tour that prepares the team on their quest for gold at the Olympic Games in August.
UMass Named A Team To Watch For In 2009 On ESPN.com
John Stratton first noticed Whitney Mollica from afar, not that he saw her right away. Stratton had parked his car at Florida Atlantic University on St. Patrick's Day, 2006. He got out. And he had to duck. "A ball almost hit my car," Stratton remembered. "I wasn't just behind the fence, either. I was 50, 60 feet away from the fence." The obvious question went through the Stratford Brakettes manager's mind: "Oh my God, who hit that?"
ECAC Release
The post-season honors keep rolling in for UMass softball as four Minutewomen were honored when the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference released its 2008 Division I All-Star teams on Wednesday. Junior Brandice Balschmiter was named Pitcher of the Year and a first team All-Star, both for the second-straight season. Designated player Lindsay Maroney was named the ECAC's Rookie of the Year and a second team All-Star. Junior Whitney Mollica joins Balschmiter as a first team All-Star, garnering the honor at third base, while sophomore Carly Normandin was named to the second team outfield.
Softball junior pitcher Brandice Balschmiter (Newark, N.Y.) was named an Easton Second-Team All-American on Tuesday. She has now earned All-America honors in each of her three seasons at UMass and she becomes the only player in program history to have earned three Easton All-America honors. Balschmiter turned in her best season to date posting a 31-8 record, a 0.66 earned run average, 18 shutouts, and 309 strikeouts in 267 innings of work. She held opponents to a .150 batting average, allowing just two home runs on the year. She threw five no-hitters including two perfect games, which ranks her one short of tying the UMass all-time record for perfect games.
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After a thrilling 2-1 win to force a game seven in the NCAA Softball Amherst Regional final, the 20th-ranked Massachusetts softball fell to eighth-ranked Stanford 6-0 in the second final game on Sunday. The Cardinal used a three-run top of the first inning and tough defense to move onto the NCAA Super Regional. UMass couldn't manage any offense in the game as Stanford pitcher Missy Penna tossed her second no-hitter of the season. The Minutewomen complete their tremendous season with a 42-13 record, their seventh 40-win season in school history.
6/12 - 2008 Softball Highlights
