By Ted Waddell
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS — July 23, 2004 – One lucky charm is good. Two is even better.
For the members of the Charlie’s Angels women’s softball team, two is definitely their lucky number, as their good luck talismans – plus a little assistance from the mound, a few good hitters and a plucky outfield – helped them clinch first place in the A Division of the Sullivan County Women’s Softball League last week.
On Wednesday night, Charlie’s Angels (18-0) continued its winning ways by defeating Roark’s Tavern 10-6 in an A Division game at Gary A. Bradley Memorial Field at White Sulphur Springs Firemen’s Park.
Back to the talismans.
At every game, the team members hang “Rally Kitty” from the fence, and each time they score or need a little luck, the players reach over and give the “Kitty” a squeeze.
Not to be upstaged, they also bring along a cow bell – which a fan grabs off the fence and rings throughout the game as runs cross the plate.
From squeaks to bells, it seems like it works for Charlie’s Angels.
The team was named in honor of Joanne “Jo” Walls’ father Charlie, who never missed a women’s softball game before he passed away in 1990.
In the bottom of the opening frame, Roark’s scored first as they sent two runners across the plate.
At their turn at bat in the second, Charlie’s Angles rebounded with five runs and followed up their winning ways in the fourth by sending one run home.
In the bottom of the fourth, Roark’s scored four runs to make it a 8-6 ballgame.
Charlie’s Angels iced the game in the seventh with a couple of runs to close out the hard-fought contest with a 10-6 win.
Angels center fielder Anna Tesseyman went 3-for-3, including a two-run double in the second inning. She also make a spectacular back-handed catch later in the game.
Leanne Mangabang went 2-for-4 with a RBI triple in the final frame. Tonya Martin racked up two doubles on the way to going 2-for-4.
For Roark’s (8-8), their big hit of the evening was a fifth-inning triple by Kelly Avery.
Pitcher Lisa Krom got the win for Charlie’s Angels, while Lisa Benjamin took the loss for Roark’s.
Roark’s captain Theresa Nietzel is currently serving with an Army Reserve unit in California.
“It was a good game… we’re fighting for second [place],” said Roark’s fill-in-captain Shannon Holland.
“Everybody did a good job,” she added.
Jo Walls, player/coach of the Charlie’s Angels team, summed up the game in which they “squeaked” by their rivals.
“It was a tremendous game, back and forth,” she said. “We had some breaks, and they had some breaks.”