Softball

Hit Parade

Undefeated Charlie’s Angels bang out 20 hits to complete season sweep of L&B Tack

By RICHARD A. ROSS

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, NY — When it comes to fielding great softball teams, there’s no substitute for experience. Few teams can match the type of veteran play evinced by Charlie’s Angels, a team on a mission this year to reclaim the crown it once perennially owned. For the past two years, the Angels have watched rival Cooper Paint walk off with the glory. But this is a new season and the Angels’ halos are shining brightly once again.

Always at or near the top of the ‘A’ Division of the Sullivan County Women’s Softball League, this year Charlie’s seems particularly motivated as they continue undefeated, following a 13-7 season-sweeping victory over L&B Tack, a team that came into this game tied for second place with Cooper Paint.

Following last year’s semifinal playoff elimination at the hands of Klein and Sons Logging, the ladies in teal and white needed to regroup. A close-knit collection of veterans led by captain Jo Walls, the Angels often get together during the off-season to socialize and look ahead to the next season’s quest.

This year, Charlie’s has re-established itself as the team to beat by knocking off defending champion Cooper Paint twice, albeit by one run each time. This win over Tack marked the second of the three-game set in which Charlie’s Angels showed its dominance. The two teams battled to a one-run Charlie’s Angels win in one of their prior two encounters.

L&B Tack was ousted last year by Cooper Paint’s relentless hitting, which allowed them to come from behind with eight runs in the seventh inning of their final game to take the series 2-0.

Historically speaking, L&B Tack has been cursed by one bad inning, and this game continued that unfortunate tradition as Charlie’s Angels uncorked an eight-run fourth inning to reverse an early 3-1 deficit.

During that frame, the Angels sent 13 batters to the plate. Over the course of the night, they banged out 20 hits and turned in the kind of fielding plays you would expect from a championship-caliber squad.

Walls retired L&B Tack batters in order in the top of the first inning and The Angels took a one-run lead in their at-bat with a RBI double by Tonya Martin. A prior walk to Jessica Bradley set the table for the veteran, who probably should have scored on Shannon Dietrich’s follow-up double. But a fly out by Analey Dietrich left Charlie’s with the one-run edge.

L&B got things going in the second. With one out, singles by Holli Schoomaker, Fran Keiser and Karen Smith loaded the bases. A two-run single by Lori Froelich and a bases-loaded walk by Jamie Hopkins gave L&B a 3-1 lead.

Hopkins held Charlie’s at bay over the next two innings, working around two on and no out in the second inning and one on in the third to preserve the lead. A stunning catch by Barb Merton on a long fly by Shannon Dietrich helped preserve the status quo. L&B was unable to add any insurance runs as they went scoreless in the third and fourth innings, getting only one runner on base during the two frames.

Then it happened. In the bottom of the fourth, Analey Dietrich led off with a single. An E-6 throw got her to second. Nikki Krom’s single put runners at the corners with no outs and Sue Ziers’ RBI single got the scoring started. A walk to Christine Decker, who had come in for the injured Debbie Ackerley, who took a foul ball just above her eye, loaded the bases. A ground out by Robyn Gannon tied the game and a triple by Walls made it 5-3. Bradley singled in Walls. After a single by Leanne Mangabang, Shannon Dietrich’s triple made it 8-3. The final run of the inning came as Analey brought in her sister Shannon. Another single by Ziers looked to keep the rally going, but Hopkins finally induced a grounder to third and Karen Smith got the put out to end the disaster.

L&B got one run in the fifth on a RBI single by Trish Tuttle and another in the sixth on a double by Smith, who tried to stretch her extra-base hit to a triple but was cut down at third on a nice throw from left fielder Mangabang.

Charlie’s Angels added four more runs in the bottom of the fifth, as two runs came in on an E-4 off the bat of Martin. Shannon Dietrich doubled in two more to bring the night’s total to 13.

L&B Tack made it interesting in the bottom of the seventh by loading the bases with no outs after Merton’s RBI single. But the unflappable Walls bore down and induced a ground out and a fly out, which put the Angels one out shy of their 15th victory against no defeats. L&B got one more run off the bat of Smith but that would be it. Despite its prolific 15 hits on the night, L&B had managed to score only seven runs. Still, take that one eight-run miasma of an inning away and this might have been an upset victory.

Froelich banged out to short to end the game and send L&B Tack to its fourth loss of the season against 10 wins. They still have two games to play against Cooper Paint, the only other team they’ve lost to this season.

At this point, Charlie’s Angels, L&B Tack and Cooper Paint look to be shoo-ins for the playoffs, which are currently slated to begin on August 4.

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