By Rob Potter
MONGAUP VALLEY — July 4, 2003 – There was no shortage of offense Tuesday night when Roark’s Tavern met Mr. Willy’s in a Sullivan County Women’s Softball League game.
The two teams combined for 32 hits and 24 runs in the contest, which was played at Collins Park in Mongaup Valley.
Mr. Willy’s was able to make better use of its hits, however. The team erased an early six-run deficit and rallied to record a 15-9 victory.
With the win, Mr. Willy’s improved its record to 6-5 on the season. Roark’s fell to 5-5.
Down 6-0 in the bottom of the third, Mr. Willy’s began its comeback. With one out, Tammi Chaboty singled to center. Lisa Dowling then ripped a double to right field and Chaboty scored on an errant throw back to the infield. Chrissy Schiff followed with a single, which allowed Dowling to cross the plate and make it a 6-2 game.
Moments later, Schiff scored on an error. Two batters later, Megan Sheeley and Diane Meyer both scored on infield single off the bat of Erica Boyd to cut the Roark’s lead to 6-5.
In the top of the fourth, Roark’s pushed its lead to 7-5 on an RBI single by Heather Barnes.
But Mr. Willy’s tied the game in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, Chaboty reached on an error and Dowling stroked a double to center field. Chaboty scored on a groundout by Schiff and Dowling scored the tying run on Sheeley’s infield hit.
Mr. Willy’s took the lead for good in the fifth.
Cindy LaRuffa led off with a triple and scored when the next batter, Erica Boyd, singled to center field. Boyd and Kerri Buckley scored on groundouts later in the frame to give Mr. Willy’s a 10-7 lead.
Mr. Willy’s added five insurance runs in the sixth inning. Dowling hit a two-run inside-the-park home run to make it a 12-7 game. Later in the inning, Meyer ripped an RBI double and Boyd added an RBI single.
Roark’s attempted a last-inning rally, however. With one out in the top of the seventh, Toni Catino reached on an error and Tini Kaiser smashed a triple to left field to bring Catino in to score. Amy Brudermann then singled to left field and Kaiser crossed the plate to cut the Mr. Willy’s lead to 15-9.
But that was as close as Roark’s would get as Mr. Willy’s pitcher Schiff got the next two batters to fly out and groundout, respectively, to end the game.
“We played good and hard tonight,” said Schiff, who is the manager of the Mr. Willy’s team. “In the beginning of the game we were playing like we have been the past few games. But then we decided to play hard and we did. We got totally focused and came out with the win.”
But in the first three innings, it looked as though Roark’s would emerge victorious. Barnes and Catino began the game with back-to-back singles in the top of the first. Kaiser then followed with an inside-the-park home run to quickly give Roark’s a 3-0 lead.
Roark’s added a run in the second on an RBI double by Shannon Holland. In the third, Roark’s increased its lead to 6-0 when Brenda Avery stroked an RBI double and Cris Carpenter ripped an RBI single.
Holland, who is the team captain for Roark’s, noted that it was “a decent game.”
“We started out well, but then we kind of lost it,” she said. “They played a good game and were able to come back because of their strong bats.”