Softball

Happy talk

L&B Tack is all smiles in crossover win over ‘B’ Division leader Mr. Willy’s

By RICHARD A. ROSS

SWAN LAKE, NY — Jamie Hopkins was down and dirty as she led off the night for L&B Tack, in a crossover game against Mr. Willy’s, with a double. Hopkins flopped in the mire by second base to the uproarious cheers of her teammates.

Slaked with mud but undaunted, Hopkins popped up in good spirits that never abated as she led her team with her pitching a perfect four-for-four night at the plate and non-stop chatter about happy hits, happy catches and happy foul balls, all of which ended in a happy 15-8 win for the ladies in maroon.

The crossover game between second-place L&B Tack of the “A” Division of the Sullivan County Women’s Softball League and the “B” Division leaders Mr. Willy’s would only get more interesting as the evening progressed.

Needless to say, Hopkins’ chatter and the final outcome were no source of humor to Mr. Willy’s, which tried for some mirth of its own, as the “B” killers answered L&B Tack’s seemingly unending six-run first inning with the kind of hitting that has made them a major contender this season. Mr. Willy’s scored four quick runs in the bottom of the first, and it could have been a lot more had it remembered its own batting order.

Following Hopkins’ mud moves, L&B Tack would send 10 more batters to the plate in the top of the first inning, getting RBI hits from Barb Merton, Holli Schoomaker, Karen Smith and Julie Potosek to take a commanding 6-0 lead.

The somewhat flat pitching of Mr. Willy’s Tiffany Hauser allowed Tack batters to whack seeing-eye liners that kept the inning alive.

Hauser settled down after the first and would allow only three more runs over the course of the next four innings until the happy campers burst out with another version of Comedy Central in the sixth, when they would score five runs. That rally was accompanied by non-stop narration by the happy Hopkins from her coaching spot on the first-base line when she wasn’t at the plate or on base.

Hardly amused by L&B Tack’s prolific first inning, Mr. Willy’s answered that punch with a counterpunch of its own, temporarily removing the smile from Hopkins’ face as they battered her and her teammates with six straight hits and a walk that netted four runs with no outs.

RBI from Cindy LaRuffa, Hauser and Vanesa Burleson punctuated the purple parade. But somehow, in the midst of their own happy hour, the batting order became confused as Rebecca Ramirez came to the plate out of order. Her bases-loaded walk, which would have made the game 6-5, was nullified and subsequent batter Heather Nober was sent back to the bench by umpire Tom Young for the lineup lulu.

Erica Boyd proceeded to bang into a double play as Karen Smith snared her liner and stepped on the bag to end the inning.

L&B tacked on a run in the second inning, as Hopkins led off with a clean double (no mud this time). She moved to third on a single by Liz Stubits and scored on a single by Merton. L&B had bases loaded with one out, following a single by Schoonmaker. But Fran Kaiser banged into a 6-4-3 double play, smoothly executed by Mr. Willy’s, to end the inning.

Mr. Willy’s got two on in the second inning with a single by Kim Jay, and an E-5

that allowed LaRuffa to arrive safely. But a fine catch in left by Kaiser, and two quick outs to follow, blunted Mr. Willy’s chance to get closer as they trailed 7-4 after two innings.

Neither team scored in the third inning, but L&B extended its lead to 9-4 by picking up a pair of runs in the fourth. Merton knocked in the first run with a sac fly, and a double by Trish Tuttle netted the second run. Merton would record five RBIs by game’s end.

Mr. Willy’s continued its drought through the fifth inning when Merton came on in relief of Hopkins. They went down in order in the third and fourth innings and had a runner tagged out at the plate in the fifth as Jen Hector came up short of the plate. Lacy Dalrymple applied a prone tag on a single by Burleson.

A sixth-inning outburst by L&B Tack made it 14-4, as the maroon wave led off with five consecutive hits that included a two-run single by Merton. L&B loaded the bases with no outs and Kaiser brought one in on a sac fly. A two-run double by Lori Froehlich accounted for the final runs of the inning.

Mr. Willy’s got four of those runs back in the bottom of the sixth. Ramirez reached on an E-6 but was tagged out at home on a triple by Boyd. Jay brought Boyd in with a single. Subsequently, a single by LaRuffa and an E-5 to Hauser loaded the bases. Diane Meyer knocked in two runs with a single. Burleson brought her mom home with a single but that was it for Mr. Willy’s in that inning. They now trailed 14-8.

L&B Tack had the last word, a final run in the top of the seventh. Fittingly, that word came from, who else but Hopkins, who led off with a double and scored on a single by Tuttle. Oh Happy Day! (at least for L&B Tack). Mr. Willy’s failed to score in its last licks as its record slipped to a still very impressive 12-5.

L&B Tack improved to 14-4. They hold a one-game lead over Cooper Paint for second place but the two teams still have a game to play against each other. Thus far, they have split their two outings.

Regardless of the outcome of that rubber match, it looks like Cooper and L&B will revisit each other in the “A” Division semifinals.

L&B Tack hopes that Hopkins’ happy harangue can lead them to a better outcome than last year’s loss to the defending champs.

Visit riverreportersports.com for an album of game pictures.