By Rob Potter
MONGAUP VALLEY — July 15, 2003 – Last Thursday night’s Sullivan County Women’s Softball League game between Charlie’s Angels and The Nugget featured a little bit of everything.
Both teams had key hits, made nice defensive plays and displayed aggressive base running. The contest was close, as the teams were never separated by more than five runs.
In the end, however, Charlie’s Angels had a couple more key hits that led to a few more runs. As a result, the Angels defeated The Nugget, 8-5.
Charlie’s Angels wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard. The first two batters of the game, Jo Walls and Christine Decker, singled and doubled, respectively. Leanne Mangabang then hit a sacrifice fly to bring Walls in with the first run of the contest. Two batters later, Debbie Ackerley hit a bloop single to right field that brought Decker across home plate for a 2-0 lead.
The Nugget cut that lead in half in the bottom of the first. With two outs and two runners on base, Karen Ward ripped an RBI single to right field to score Jen Barnier.
After a scoreless second inning, Charlie’s Angels added a pair of runs in the third. Mangabang stroked a triple to left field to bring Walls around to score and the next batter, Tonya Ackerley, singled to bring Mangabang home.
In the bottom of the fourth, The Nugget closed the gap to 4-2. Tara DeMaria singled to left field to score Patty Anderson, who had led off the inning with a single.
The Angels extended their lead to 7-2 in the fifth thanks to an error and RBI singles by Mangabang and Tonya Ackerley.
The Nugget responded with a run in the bottom of the frame as an infield single by Debbie Noecker allowed Kieranne Barnicle to score.
In the bottom of the sixth, The Nugget scored two more runs. An RBI single off the bat of Roxanne Kehrley and an error allowed The Nugget to narrow its deficit to 7-5.
An RBI single by Decker gave Charlie’s Angels an 8-5 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh.
Although The Nugget put two runners on base in that final inning, neither of them made it past second base.
For the Angels, the game was a contrast to their previous contest. Two nights earlier, the team outslugged Gorr Jus to record a 28-16 victory. The game versus The Nugget was more of a nail-biter for Charlie’s Angels.
“The girls just hung in there tonight,” said Walls, who is the player/coach for the Angels. “They stayed focused. It was a good, close game and it’s nice to have one like that.”
Charlie’s Angels improved to 12-2 on the season, while The Nugget fell to 7-6.
Nugget Coach Ed Wheat was not too disappointed with the outcome.
“They did great,” he said of his players. “I’m proud of them.”