Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 2, 1995 TAG: 9507030073
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN MCCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
They now have an official name: The Roanoke Stars.
They have an official cheer: "Woo woo!" (named for a mixed drink apparently favored by several players).
And as of Saturday, they have their first win: 5-4, in a tense match with the New York Skyliners at Glenvar High School.
"It don't get any better than that," said Kelly Henry, catcher for the Roanoke Valley's first all-woman baseball team, which played its first official game Saturday.
Henry pulled the team together just a few weeks ago, calling on players she knew from local softball teams. She had played baseball on men's adult league teams for several years but wanted women to play hardball.
Did they ever.
They hit grounders, stole bases, caught fly balls, made double plays and, man, did they holler from the dugout.
"COME ON, LADIES, LET'S GO," Henry shouted.
"Way to go, Bootie, way to go."
"Woo woooo!"
"That's how the big girls play," Henry said after a good play.
No political correctness here - it's all "ladies" and "girls." Most of the players know one another, but few had played together before.
Few had ever played baseball before.
"There's so many picky rules," said Kiki Chesteron, a former lacrosse coach at Roanoke College and an all-around sports nut.
Henry said she knew the players had the ability, "They just had to learn all the baseball stuff. In a hurry, like right now," she said during the third inning.
They had to get used to wearing helmets, borrowed from the men's team and several sizes too big. And they had to adjust their swing to meet the hard, low pitches.
But they took to stealing bases right away, which you can't do in softball. And they got away with it several times, even though the bases are farther apart than on a softball diamond.
"You think you have enough room to get back but the ball gets there before you do," panted Michelle Harrison, back on the bench after getting tagged out attempting to swipe second.
Harrison is another sports nut. She started gymnastics at age 3 and hasn't stopped yet. She played softball and basketball at Salem High School, and decided to do something different this summer.
She has a lot of support. Her extended family, it seems, accompanies her to all her sporting events. On Saturday, her family outnumbered her teammates, with no less than 14 of her aunts, cousins and uncles lining the dugout bench and cheering on the Stars.
The fledgling team had help from pitcher Nikki Horew, who came down from Pittsburgh to play.
As for the Skyliners, the New York team has been together about a year. They are sponsored by a Wall Street broker, as evidenced by their professional-looking uniforms.
The Stars scored first, getting two runs in the fourth inning. But the Skyliners caught up and, by the seventh and last inning, the score was tied.
With bases loaded, two outs, and Michelle Harrison at third base, a Star player stepped up to bat. The Harrison family was going nuts on the bench.
Ball one. Strike one. Ball two, and then, on a wild pitch, Harrison bolted home.
And the crowd went wild.
The Stars play today at 9 a.m. at Starkey Road Field in Roanoke County against the BQEs (Brooklyn, Queens and Everyone).
by CNB