Suffolk News-Herald

The Pill Poppers racked up the home runs on Saturday afternoon at Driver Elementary School, smashing eight balls out of the park in their 24-11 victory over the Power House in the quarterfinals of the Bennett’s Creek Women’s softball league. Amber Simmons, Christy Lee and Alex Butler hit two round-trippers each (Butler’s last shot was a grand slam).

&uot;I hope to hit a homer every time I go up,&uot; Simmons said. &uot;You get a thrill out of hitting the ball as hard as you can. Our biggest weapon is the fact that we all play so well together. This game was closer than I wanted it to be.&uot;

She opened the first scoring gap with one out in the first inning, blasting a three-run shot over the left field fence to go up 3-0. Lydia DeVenuto and Callie Woodworth opened the second with singles for the Poppers, and Lori Wilson drove DeVenuto home with a single of her own.

But the House started to rebuild in the third inning. Keri Carlsen and Kim Bradshaw singled, and Ruth Thousand bounced a triple off the right-centerfield fence to score them. Rose Harrell singled Thousand in, and the team in blue was within a run.

At least, until the bottom of the inning. Butler, Christy Lee and DeVentuo loaded the bases, and a sacrifice fly by Woodworth brought Butler home. Beth Marley powered a homer of the left field scoreboard, and the lead was five.

Ann Marie Bell hit her team’s first homer in the fourth, a two-run shot that landed just over the left field fence. But Butler homered with Simmons and Wendy Redmon on, and Lee was right behind her with a solo shot for an 11-5 lead.

Thousand, Harrell and Delores Pope scored for the House in the fifth, and Woodworth led off for the Poppers with a double down the right field line. Marley singled her home, and Wilson and Simmons walked, again loading the bases. Redmon and Terry singled home two runs, and Butler had the hit of the afternoon, bashing a grand slam far out of the park for an 18-8 lead.

Kristin Everette and Harrell homered for the House in the last innings, and Simmons, Terry and Lee removed three more softballs from the field in the sixth. Today at 1 p.m., the Pill Poppers will play the winner’s bracket semifinal game against the Mamacitas, whom they defeated three times in the regular season. The Mamas charged to the semis with a 13-1 victory over the Bulldozers. Mary Kelly hit two homers in the win, and Tara Worley and Angie Longwood scored two runs apiece.

The Power House had one victory to celebrate on Saturday, as Bell won the league home run derby title, blasting two homers out of the park.

&uot;I’m ON today!&uot; Bell said. &uot;I just did it for the fun.&uot;

After the first round of games, the league handed out awards for the season. Tracey Lewis of the Caution was named the league’s Most Spirited player, and the 2003 board members were elected. Winners were Marley (president), Melinda Krill (vice president), Renee McNeil (secretary), Butler (treasurer), Simmons (player agent) and Kathleen Hotte (player representative).