Lawton pitches Brakettes to two victories

SSTRATFORD — Sarah Lawton won both games Sunday for the Stratford Brakettes in their doubleheader sweep over the Concord (Mass.) Raiders at Frank DeLuca Hall of Fame Field.

In the opener, a six-inning 8-0 win, Lawton pitched a no-hitter, allowing one baserunner and striking out 14. She picked up the win with three perfect innings of relief in the nightcap, a five-inning, 9-1 victory.

“She is the best pitcher to come out of Waterbury since Joan Joyce (the legendary Brakettes standout and national hall of famer),” Brakettes manager John Stratton said. “She just keeps getting better and better.”

In Sunday’s outings, she faced 27 batters and retired 26 of them, to lower her ERA to 0.77. She has worked 282⁄3 innings this season and she has 59 strikeouts.

“When you strike out over two batters per inning, you are in some pretty elite company,” Stratton said.

The Brakettes were led offensively by Val Suto, Rebecca Johnson and Emma Larke with three hits apiece. Lauren Pitney had two RBIs.

Lawton, the former Holy Cross all-stater, came on in relief of starter Sydney Senerchia in the top of the third inning. Senerchia was experiencing some arm stiffness.

Suto and Pitney both had two hits and Kaitlyn Flood belted a two-run home run for the Brakettes, who improved to 15-0 with their 61st straight win over a two-year span.

The Junior Brakettes won their seventh straight game by sweeping the Massachusetts Drifters 8-0 and 9-1 Sunday morning. Jenna Geffert hurled a perfect game in the five-inning opener, while Maddy Procyk allowed only two hits in the second game.

Claire McCann and Kailey Carrano both hit tworun home runs, while Lauren Rende, Dana Serrichio, Chack Horton, and Procyk all had two hits for the 7-4 Junior Brakettes.