Top coat

Cooper Paint rises to the top of A Division with gritty win over Charlie’s Angels

By RICHARD A. ROSS

MONGAUP VALLEY, NY - Every league has its defining rivalries. And in the Sullivan County Women’s Softball League, there is none greater than that which exists between Charlie’s Angels and Cooper Paint. While the Angels held sway for many years, a few years back Cooper Paint burst onto the scene and challenged the Angels’ ongoing dynasty.

Last year, Cooper Paint finally got over the hump by taking the regular season title, something they had done before, and winning the playoff championship series as well. That defeat hurt the Angels’ pride, and they met all winter long to plan on how best to take the coveted title back.

Their fervor led them to practice and get ready early in the season, while Cooper Paint struggled to get into the rhythm of the new season. On June 6, Charlie’s Angels launched its own version of D-Day, defeat Cooper Day, as they piled up 14 runs in the first two innings on their way to a 14-7 win.

But softball is as unpredictable as the weather in the new era of global warming. Charlie’s suffered a pair of unexpected losses, first to L&B Tack and most recently to Klein and Sons Logging. Cooper also lost to L&B Tack, giving them two losses as well.

So the stage was set for the dramatic July 16 rematch. And by the time the fireworks ended, Cooper had ridden an eight-run sixth-inning outburst to come from behind and hold on for a momentous 11-8 win.

Their late flurry of hits included a thunderous double by Ally McCarthy that nearly left the deepest part of the park. Coming into the inning Cooper had found itself trailing 6-3 and looking at the prospect of being swept this season by the team they most love to loathe.

Charlie’s had already had a big inning in the fifth, piling up four runs for their first lead of the night.

As expected, both teams showed great resiliency in the fray, and the game may likely serve as an enticing appetizer to a great playoff series down the line.

The win afforded Cooper the current lead in the division. But the upsurge of Klein and Sons, now tied with Charlie’s one game back with a game left with both of the heavyweights, there are no guarantees as to who will be sitting atop of the pack at season’s end.

In addition to Klein and Sons, you have to keep Dutch’s Bar/T&C Tanning, L&B Tack and feisty Team New Hope in the mix. Four teams make the playoffs and all of the above are still in contention. New Hope helped its cause with a 12-5 win over L&B Tack in the night’s opening game (See separate article entitled “Wishing and Hoping”).

Cooper Paint and Charlie’s remained scoreless through the first two innings, and tension was evidenced by a number of throwing errors on both sides, rare indeed, especially from All-Star short stops like Charlie’s Shannon Dietrich or Cooper’s Erin Shuart.

The tie dyed ladies got three runs in the top of the third, after Charish Priest and Rocky Irwin got back-to-back singles. Priest was hit in the head as she ran to third on Irwin’s base hit by Dietrich’s throw, which looked to have Priest dead to rights. Instead, the ball bounced off Priest’s head and caused a brief delay while she gathered her wits about her. She was safe on the throwing error.

An E-4 allowed a run to score. A sac fly and another errant throw gave Cooper a 3-0 lead. The Angels answered back in the bottom of the frame with two, a RBI from Nikki Krom and a run that scored on another errant throw from short center.

Cooper Paint went scoreless in the fourth and fifth behind Charlie’s stiffening defense. The Angels took the lead in the bottom of the fifth with four runs, after loading the bases with no outs. Jessica Bradley roped a two-run double. Krom’s groundout scored another run,and Leanne Mangabang got a RBI single.

Cooper avoided more damage by turning a 3-3 double play, thereby cutting off a run at the plate and getting a rare strike out wrought by pitcher Natalie Cillis to end the inning.

In the sixth, a leadoff walk, issued by pitcher Diane Staves to Amanda Cox, was the first sign of trouble for the Angels. Amanda Irwin’s single drove Cox to third, who came flying home on McCarthy’s long ball, a blast that had fans jumping out of their seats. Staves threw eight straight balls, first loading the bases and then sending a runner home on consecutive walks, before being relieved by Lisa Krom. The great veteran has seen little playing time, due to ongoing issues with her legs, but she came in to try and put out the fire. She’s a real pro and her first pitch was a strike, but Priest roped a single that tied the game at six-all. The scoreboard read 6-6-6 denoting the inning as well, a number that drew some instant attention, given the devilish doings on the field. Rocky Irwin then hit a sac fly and Shuart blasted a double, both of which plated runs.

Newcomer Katie Yaun knocked in another with a double, and Jackie Litwak had the inning’s final RBI. When the dust cleared, Cooper led 11-6. They advanced their cause by blanking Charlie’s in the bottom of the sixth by allowing only a single to Heidi Hewlett.

Cooper was unable to capitalize on a leadoff double in the seventh by Amanda Irwin, leaving it all up to the Angels to try and make the dramatic comeback many of their fans expected them to make.

It never happened.

The Angels got two on with one out, and Dietrich’s two-strike liner brought them in, but a come backer to Cillis resulted in the game’s final out as Cooper Paint celebrated the season split and the prospect of perhaps defending their A division crown, something many of them regard as even more important than the playoff title.

Cooper Paint improved to 12-2 while Charlie’s Angels slipped to 11-3.

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