It's a Sweeper

By Rob Potter
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS — July 11, 2000 -- On Sunday afternoon, the Sullivan County American Legion Big League Softball team was finally able to complete a scheduled doubleheader.
Despite a light to moderate drizzle that fell during the majority of the afternoon into the evening, the SC squad knocked off Newburgh twice. In the first game, SC broke a 4-4 tie in the fourth inning and pulled away to a 11-6 win. Then in the nightcap, SC pounded out 11 hits and took advantage of Newburgh miscues en route to a 19-2 win.
Back on June 11, the SC team had the second game of a scheduled doubleheader versus New Windsor cancelled due to a severe thunderstorm. Then on July 2, a twin bill versus Pine Bush could not be completed after a Pine Bush player was injured and the team had no substitute player to take her place in the lineup. Rather than finish the game in an eight-on-eight fashion, the coaches and umpires decided to play the remaining innings as a scrimmage.
Sunday’s completed doubleheader gave SC two more wins and boosted its record to 4-2. It also allowed the county team, which is sponsored by the Floyd Keener American Legion Post 315 of Roscoe, to rebound from a 4-0 loss to Newburgh on July 5.
Tied at 4-4 in the fourth inning of game one, SC grabbed the lead for good. With two outs and two runners on base, Linnea O’Mara raced home on a wild pitch to give SC a 5-4 lead. Michelle Olson then scored on an infield error for a 6-4 lead.
Rachelle Irwin later scored on a passed ball for a 7-4 lead.
After two Newburgh runners scored on passed balls in the top of the fifth to cut the SC advantage to 7-6, the home team added one run in the bottom of the frame and three more in the sixth.
Karin Blaut pitched five innings for SC, allowing only three hits, walking eight and striking out five batters for the victory. Jessica Wright set down the Newburgh batters in order in the sixth and seventh innings.
Amanda Irwin and Marissa Rivera each had a triple in the contest. Blaut added an RBI double in the sixth and Christina Head had an RBI single in the same inning.
In the second game, SC jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two innings. The squad then added four runs in the fifth and, thanks in large part to Newburgh errors and walks, 10 more runs in the sixth inning. Due to the 10-run rule, the game was called after the sixth inning.
Wright pitched all six innings for the win. She struck out four batters, walked only one and allowed a handful of hits.
Amanda Irwin recorded another triple in the game and ripped a two-run single. Rachelle Irwin and Blaut each added a pair of RBI for Sullivan County and Wright helped herself with an RBI single in the fifth inning.
“It was nice to finish a doubleheader for a change,” said SC manager Joe Meola. “The girls were on the ball today, they were really hitting.”
Although the season is winding down, the SC team is still looking for donations. Individuals and/or businesses interested in doing so should contact Meola at (607) 498-4615.
A good deal of the donated funds will be used for an all-star trip to Maryland. On July 22, six players from each area Big League team — Sullivan County, Newburgh, New Windsor and Pine Bush — will attend an all-star tryout. About 15 of those players will be chosen for an all-star team that will travel to Maryland in the following weeks for an American Legion tournament.
The Sullivan County team will return to action tomorrow night. The squad will face Pine Bush in a doubleheader in Middletown.