Softball

Wood chipper

Klein and Sons Logging takes Charlie’s Angels to the mill in playoff opener handing teal and white its first loss of the year

By RICHARD A. ROSS

MONGAUP VALLEY, NY — “Fun: Are You Having It?” was the phrase emblazoned on the back of the jerseys sported by Klein and Sons Logging as they showed up for a rematch of last year’s semifinals with Charlie’s Angels on August 4.

By the time the game had ended, with fourth-seeded Klein and Sons emerging as the victor over the previously unbeaten number-one-seeded Charlie’s Angels, the answer to the question posed on their jerseys was a resounding “Yes,” at least so far. Being on the wrong end of this playoff opener was no fun for Charlie’s Angels, but fun is something they hope to recapture as they seek to right the ship in game two.

A year ago, K&S had even more fun as they got to yell “Timber!” by toppling the Angels in an historic playoff-series upset. Unfortunately for the ladies in navy and white, they could not keep that magic going against Cooper Paint, who prevailed for the second-straight year.

This year, the log ladies struggled mightily, but a late-season spurt and a feisty recent win over New Hope Community brought Klein and Sons back to the playoffs to face the seemingly unbeatable Angels, who beat them three times this season on their way to a perfect 21-0 regular-season mark.

But being undefeated is no advantage come playoff time. If anything, it can make a team tight, which is what the Angels became as the game progressed. That tightness was evinced by the commission of an uncommon six errors, most uncharacteristic for a team known for its leather.

The Angels broke a three-inning tie with a RBI single from Tonya Martin in the fourth inning. Astoundingly, that was all the scoring the Angels would manage for the rest of the night.

Klein and Sons answered Charlie’s lead with a resounding five runs in the top of the fifth. A leadoff single by Kayla Scannell, an E-5 off the bat of Jill Hubert Simon and a single from Barbara Ward Blank loaded the bases. An E-2 off the bat of Chris Price got the first run in. Two more came in on Kaylie Ackerley’s single, and an E-10 off the bat of Chris Lopez netted two more.

Klein and Sons would go on to add two runs in the sixth on back-to-back hits by Hubert Simon and Ward Blank. In the seventh, they piled on with another run, scored on an errant throw and on Scannell’s solo homer.

The Angels went quietly in the bottom of the seventh, but took it in stride, vowing to come back and play their game on August 5 in White Sulphur Springs in an attempt to stave off elimination.

Visit riverreportersports.com for an album of game pictures.