Painkillers hold off Locos; Powerhouse wins

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, July 23, 2002

The Painkillers held off a late rally by Los Locos to win 6-5 in Suffolk Women’s Softball League competition at Driver Elementary School Monday evening. After falling behind 6-2 early on, the Locos scored three runs in the fifth before the Painkillers could get them out.

Lori Wilson got the Painkillers on the board in the top of the first inning when she scored on a single by Terri Johnson. A fresh pair of singles allowed Johnson and Karen Smith to reach the plate, and the Painkillers had a 3-0 lead.

The Locos quickly cut the lead to 3-2, but Wilson and Jennifer Boykin got on base with one out in the top of the third. Smith then bashed a three-run triple, and the lead was 5-2.

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With the game seemingly in her team’s hands, Boykin smashed a triple of her own in the top of the fourth, and scored on a single by Johnson. In the next inning, however, the Locos showed that the word &uot;quit&uot; wasn’t in their vocabulary.

Helena Byrum led off with a single to left field, and Julia Davis bounced a double off the left field fence. Loretta Shepard flew out, but Nancy McCrickard walked to load the bases.

Debbie Visser lined a single into left field to score Byrum, and Lori Hough knocked a hard grounder up the middle to bring Davis around. McCrickard was thrown out at second base, but the Locos were up to 6-4.

Mary Ellen Matthews slugged her team’s fifth hit of the inning, a single into centerfield that scored Visser. But Wilson, playing shortstop, snared a popup to end the inning and made two putouts in the sixth to end the game.

&uot;I’ve been playing softball since I was 11,&uot; said Wilson, who gave herself a late birthday present (her birthday was Monday) with the win. &uot;When you’ve been playing for that long, you don’t think about who’s batting or what the score is; you just think about getting people out.&uot;

On the other field, the Powerhouse moved its record to 5-0 with a 12-5 victory over the Mulchers.

Hitting powered the Powerhouse to victory, as Kathleen Hotte blasted a two-run shot in the second inning, and Kristi Parker and Kristy Cornett each went 3-for-4.

Games begin at 7 p.m. tonight, as the Powerhouse takes on the Teamsters and the Painkillers face the Mulchers. At 8:30 p.m., the Painkillers will battle the Powerhouse and the Mulchers will play Los Locos.