Sullivan County Womens Softball League ‘A’ Division Playoffs

Paint thinner

Klein & Son’s Logging nearly bleaches tie-dyed Cooper Paint in ‘A’ Division opener

By RICHARD A. ROSS

MONGAUP VALLEY, NY - Perhaps Cooper Paint was looking ahead to a long-anticipated rematch with Charlie’s Angels. Or maybe the weeklong layoff caused the league’s top team to look flat and ordinary in the opener of the ‘A’ Division playoffs against Klein & Sons Logging on August 7.

But no one can deny that feisty Klein & Sons came to play hard.

Not the least bit intimidated by Cooper’s 19-0 regular-season record, the ladies in blue and white came out slugging. Capitalizing on six Cooper Paint errors and riding the stellar fielding of Jill Hubert-Simon, who recorded six put outs, including the first three hit to her at short, Klein & Sons put a scare into Cooper Paint.

Klein & Sons got things going with a triple by Chris Powers in the first inning. Powers came in on an E-6, but Cooper Paint pitcher Natalie Cillis induced a ground out to end the inning.

Overly anxious at the plate, Cooper Paint batters reached for pitches outside the zone and hit weak pop ups and comebackers for easy put outs. They went scoreless for the first two innings.

Klein & Sons added a pair of runs in the fourth inning, as a ball hit up the middle by Cheryl Sheerer slid under the center fielder’s legs for a two-run homer.

Cooper Paint came back with their first run in the bottom of the third when Jen Wright singled with two outs and Charish Priest drove her in with a double.

Cooper Paint’s dugout was smoking with frustration and tempers, as team gurus Pat Shuart and Val Fersch preached patience and calm.

The message got through and Cooper Paint erupted for eight runs in the bottom of the fifth to take an 8-3 lead.

Cooper Paint sent 12 batters to the plate against starting pitcher Susan Waddell and reliever Kris Stant. Erin Shuart got it started with a leadoff single. After Cillis doubled, Wright got the first run in with a sac fly. RBI came fast and furious off the bats of Amanda Irwin, Amanda Cox, Lori Brown, Jackie Litwak and Rocky Irwin, who finally broke through after leaving the bases loaded on her first two at-bats. Ally McCarthy went three for three and was key in keeping the rally going.

Klein & Sons players unified their resolve and got out of the inning determined to fight back.

In the top of the seventh, Sheerer singled but Chris Basna’s routine fly to left sailed over Cox’s head to give the Loggers runners on second and third with no out. An errant throw home from short plated the first run before pinch hitter Erin Peck grounded out.

Cooper Paint braced itself to record the needed two outs to ice the win, but Waddell singled to make it a 9-7 game. Anna Puleo grounded out to short, but a run came in making it 9-8. With the tying run on second and the potential go-ahead run at the plate, Klein & Sons was in a position to take the lead, but Cillis got Stant to ground out to end the game.

“Our goal was to play them tough and we did,” said Klein & Sons coach Paul Hubert. Cooper Paint players breathed a sigh of great relief after the game, feeling like they had dodged a bullet. They promised a better performance in game two. For their part, Klein & Sons players huddled around Hubert-Simon and reaffirmed their collective resolve.

Cooper leads the best of three series 1-0. Game two was scheduled for August 8 at Swan Lake.

After Dutch’s Bar/T&C Tanning defeated Charlie’s Angels by the score of 5-2 on July 25, the two teams fell into a tie for second place. On August 7, they finalized their regular season standings. In a game that seemed like a walkover at first, Charlie’s Angels got out to a 10-0 lead, fueled by a pair of home runs from Tonya Martin and a blast from Jo Walls. But Dutch’s is determined not be an easy out in the upcoming playoffs, scheduled to begin at Lew Beach on August 8.

After getting their first run in the sixth inning, Dutch’s rallied for six more in the top of the seventh with great hitting from Theresa Nietzel, Theresa Murdoch, Justine Whitcomb, Tini Kaiser, Amy Brudermann, Lisa Benjamin, Shannon Holland and Chris Carpenter.

Although they came up short by four runs, Dutch’s Bar/T&C Tanning let Charlie’s Angels know that when the two teams meet for the right to move onto the finals, the Angels can expect a devil of a fight.

Visit riverreportersports.com for photos and details of the Cooper Paint/Klein & Sons playoff games, as well as updates on the other playoffs in the Sullivan County Womens Softball League.