By Rob Potter
MONGAUP VALLEY — July 7, 2006 – There was plenty of softball action on Wednesday evening at Edward M. Collins Memorial Park in Mongaup Valley as the Sullivan County Women’s Softball League (SCWSL) held two games.
In the first game, L&B Tack, an “A” Division team, squared off against Cobbler’s, a “B” Division team. The nightcap was a “B” Division contest between the Center For Discovery Diamonds and Behan’s Towing.
L&B Rolls to Big Win
L&B Tack grabbed an early lead against Cobblers and didn’t look back. L&B scored in every inning on its way to an 18-2 victory in a contest that ended after five innings due to the SCWSL’s 15-run mercy rule.
In the top of the first, Jamie Hopkins and Mary Smith smacked RBI doubles and Laura White ripped an RBI single to give L&B a 3-0 lead.
L&B added to its advantage in the top of the second. With two outs and no one on base, Liz Stubits drilled the ball to deep center field. As the Cobblers outfielders tracked down the ball, Stubits sprinted around the bases for an inside-the-park home run.
In the top of the third, Diane Gonzalez blasted an inside-the-park home run. With teammates Hopkins and Smith on base, Gonzalez sent the ball into deep center field. Seconds after Hopkins and Smith scored, Gonzalez touched home plate to give L&B a 7-0 lead.
Lacy Dalrymple added an RBI single later in the frame to make it an 8-0 game.
L&B virtually sealed its victory by scoring nine runs in the top of the fourth.
Mica Beauchamp and Hopkins smacked RBI doubles in the frame, while Dalrymple, Hamilton, Stubits and White each had an RBI single.
Faced with a 17-0 deficit, Cobblers got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs and runners at the corners, Janet Calangelo smashed a double to left field, which allowed Rene Edwards to score easily from third base.
L&B took an 18-2 lead in the top of the fifth when Gonzalez hit another inside-the-park homer.
Rebecca Cohen of Cobblers scored the final run of the game in the bottom of the fifth. She reached base on an error and advanced to third base when Lara DePaolo beat out a sharp grounder to shortstop. Cohen crossed home plate seconds later as Cathy Roser grounded out.
L&B improved its record to 7-2, while Cobblers fell to 4-5.
Center For Discovery
Edges Behan’s
The Center For Discovery Diamonds scored a 4-3 victory with a late-inning run.
With the score knotted at 3-3 and one out in the bottom of the sixth, Bonnie Blackwell and Angie Bakos hit consecutive singles. The next batter, Kathy Ganska, hit a ground ball to second base. As Bakos was forced out at second, Blackwell ran to third base and kept going. She beat the throw to the plate to give CFD a 4-3 lead.
In the top of the seventh, Blackwell, the CFD pitcher, ensured her team’s victory by getting all three Behan’s batters to ground out.
CFD improved its record to 6-2. Behan’s dropped to 4-6 this season.
Behan’s took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on an RBI single by Tricia Kaiser.
CFD tied the score and took the lead in the bottom of the second. Blackwell led off with a double and Bakos followed with a single to put runners at first and third. Ganska then hit a ground ball to Behan’s pitcher Malinda Simpson. As Simpson threw out Ganska at first base, Blackwell scored the tying run. Bakos gave CFD a 2-1 lead when she crossed home plate on a groundout by Judy Konefal.
The Diamonds extended their lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth when Blackwell hit the ball deep into the outfield. She was running hard as soon as she left the batter’s box and didn’t slow down as she rounded the bases for an inside-the-park home run.
Behan’s tied the score at 3-3 in the top of the fifth. Simpson, who reached base on a walk, scored when Jessica DeGraw ripped a double to center field. Moments later, Karen Borowski, who had singled, scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly by Kaiser.