Sullivan County Women’s Softball League

Repaint

Cooper Paint rides Cox double to defeat Charlie’s Angels and sweep regular-season series

By RICHARD A. ROSS

MONGAUP VALLEY, NY - There’s never a dull moment when the two top teams in the Sullivan County Women’s Softball team duke it out. Expect anything and that’s what you’ll get when rivals Charlie’s Angels and Cooper Paint hitch it up.

On July 24, they met for the second and final time of the regular season. In their prior encounter on July 6, it was Cooper Paint that came out looking colorful with a 15-9 win over the reigning Division A playoff champions.

Remember, Cooper Paint won the league title last year so the two teams divided the bragging rights in 2005.

Following their loss on July 6, the Angels’ only defeat of the season, the ladies in teal and white looked forward to evening the score with their archrivals in the rematch.

And they nearly did just that.

Charlie’s got out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning by raining five straight singles off Cooper Paint pitcher Natalie Cillis. Jo Walls, Nicki Krom, Leanne Mangabang, Tonya Martin and Shannon Dietrich all reached safely. Debbie Ackerley reached on a fielder’s choice to drive in the inning’s second run, but Cooper Paint’s Rocky Irwin was able to slam the door shut with her fine fielding.

The tie-dyed ladies got one run back in the bottom of the first as Krom struggled to find the strike zone and walked Jen Wright and Charish Priest. Amanda Irwin drove in a run with a hard-hit single, but Cooper batters were overanxious and hitting the ball in the air. Charlie’s Angels defense proved up to the task as usual.

The Angels added to their lead with a run in the second, fueled by an RBI double from Terri Hess. The Angels also lifted the ball for fly outs. Cooper moved the score closer at 3-2 in the third when Wright smashed a triple to deep left, scoring Cillis, who had reached on a single.

Slowly, the crowd began to thicken as onlookers weighed in by cheering for their favorites in a game that might well be a preview of this year’s championship series.

Charlie’s Angels extended their lead to 4-2 in the top of the fourth, after hits by Ackerley and Cindy Ellmauer gave the team runners on second and third with no out. Christine ‘Costa’ Decker drove in a run on a put-out play by Irwin, who also snared a fly off the bat of Jessica Bradley. Jackie Litwak fired a strike from short to Ally McCarthy at first for the inning’s final out.

The painted wonders tied the game in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI triple from McCarthy and a sac fly from Lori Brown.

Cooper Paint got its first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth with a bases-loaded, two-run double from Amanda Cox to give Cooper a 6-4 lead.

The Angels answered right back in the top of the sixth with a three-run outburst to retake the lead.

The fireworks began with a lofty homer from Tonya Martin. A walk to Ackerley and a single by Costa gave the Angels runners at first and second, and a screaming liner by Jessica Bradley just tipped the top of Litwak’s glove for the first run. An RBI from Hess gave the Angels the 7-6 edge.

Holding Cooper scoreless in the bottom of the sixth, Charlie’s Angels added an insurance run in the top of the seventh by putting together a double from Jo Walls and an RBI single from Martin.

But in the bottom of the seventh, Charlie’s insurance policy lapsed when Rocky Irwin led off with a single. After Denise Vankeuren struck out, Cillis hit a single giving Cooper Paint runners at the corners with one out. Wright got the first run in with a single to make it 8-7.

The Angels had a chance to end the game on a double play when Priest hit a hard grounder to Dietrich, who stepped on second for the force out. The throw to first pulled Robyn Gannon off the bag.

Cox came up with two on and two out and laced a Krom pitch that caught too much of the plate right over second, scoring Cillis and Priest to ice the 9-8 win.

The victory protected Cooper Paint’s undefeated record, which now stands at 17-0.

Charlie’s Angels fell to 16-2.

Both teams still have to face a tough opponent in Dutch’s Bar &Tanning Salon. Dutch’s has only two losses, one to each of the two top contenders. The top four teams in each division make the playoffs. At the moment, that includes Cooper Paint, Charlie’s Angels, Dutch’s and Klein and Son’s Logging.

Charlie’s Angels is a team of veterans. Expect them to regroup and try to recapture the playoff title by putting aside their regular season shortcomings against Cooper Paint.

On the flipside, Cooper Paint wants more than just a repeat of the division title. This year they made it clear.

They want it all.

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