By Rob Potter
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS — July 8, 2005 – The Cooper Paint softball team fell behind twice in its Sullivan County Women’s Softball League (SCWSL) “A” Division game versus Charlie’s Angels on Wednesday night at Gary A. Bradley Memorial Field at the White Sulphur Springs Fire Department Park.
But Cooper Paint rallied from both of those deficits and then scored nine runs in the top of the sixth inning on its way to a 23-13 victory.
Cooper Paint is now 14-0 for the season and Charlie’s Angels has a record of 10-2, with both of those losses to Cooper Paint.
Down 8-7 entering the sixth inning, Cooper Paint got its bats going. With one out and two runners on base, Denise Vankeuren hit a single to right field. Rachelle “Rocky” Irwin scored from second base on Vankeuren’s base hit to knot the score at 8-8.
After the second out of the inning was recorded, Amanda Cox singled to center field to give Cooper Paint a 10-8 advantage. Cox then advanced to third base when Amanda Irwin singled to center field.
Cox and Irwin both crossed home plate when the next batter, Ally McCarthy, smashed the ball to the base of the fence in right center field. McCarthy ended up on third base with a stand-up triple.
Lori Brown and Leyna Madison each singled to extend the Cooper Paint advantage to 14-8. Jennifer Wright followed with an RBI double to center field. Rachelle Irwin beat out an infield grounder to allow Wright to score, which gave Cooper Paint a 16-8 lead.
Charlie’s Angels responded by scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Karen Fisher, Terri Hess and Robyn Gannon hit back-to-back-to-back singles to load the bases.
After Cooper Paint pitcher Nat Cillis got a strikeout for the second out of the frame, Shannon Dietrich ripped a triple to left field that allowed all three of her teammates to score.
Leanne Mangabang then hit an inside-the-park home run to left center, which cut the Cooper Paint lead to three runs at 16-13.
Cooper Paint tacked on seven insurance runs in the top of the seventh to preserve its victory.
Amanda Irwin and Wright each hit an RBI double, Rachelle Irwin had a two-run double and McCarthy added an RBI triple as Cooper Paint took a commanding 23-13 advantage into the final half-inning.
Cillis allowed a one-out single to Jo Walls in the bottom of the seventh, but then got a ground out and a fly out to end the game.
Charlie’s Angels grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning thanks to consecutive RBI singles by Tonya Martin and Lisa Krom.
But Cooper Paint answered with a pair of runs in the top of the second. Madison scored on a triple by Wright and Wright crossed home plate moments later on a single by Rachelle Irwin.
Cooper Paint broke the 2-2 tie by scoring two runs in the top of the third. The first batter of the frame, Charish Priest, reached base on an error and Cox followed with an inside-the-park home run to deep left center field.
In the top of the fourth, a sacrifice fly by Priest and a two-run single by Amanda Irwin allowed Cooper Paint to extend its lead to 7-2.
But Charlie’s Angels rallied to tie the score in the bottom of the fourth.
Martin led off by smashing a pitch from Cillis into deep right center field and then sprinted around the bases for an inside-the-park home run.
Following Martin’s homer, Lisa Krom singled to left field. After a groundout, Debbi Ackerley singled and Cindy Ellmauer walked to load the bases. Fisher then reached base on an error, which allowed Krom to score and cut the Cooper Paint lead to 7-4. Hess and Gannon then hit run-scoring singles to bring Charlie’s Angels to within a single run.
Cooper Paint recorded the second out of the frame on a fielder’s choice ground ball, but Fisher crossed the plate with the game-tying run as the out was recorded.
With one out in the bottom of the fifth, Martin singled to right field and Krom followed with a double to center field. Martin scored on Krom’s hit to give Charlie’s Angels an 8-7 lead.