THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 31, 1994 TAG: 9407290250
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 26 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Sports
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, CLIPPER SPORTS EDITOR
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
They were rookies. Freshmen. The new kids on the block. In their first year out of the gate, the Western Branch Little League hardly figured to be a major player in the girls fast-pitch softball community.
After all, they lacked tradition. They didn't have much of a financial base. Frequently, they didn't have fields to play on.
Not a pretty picture.
Yet despite all of this, the league survived, and two Western Branch teams - the Senior and Major League All-Stars - earned the District 6 championships.
Not too bad for their first try.
``It was a big surprise, without a doubt,'' said WBLL president Ron Snipes of winning the district titles.
In fact, it may have been an even bigger surprise that manager Rick Frink's Major team performed so well, considering that the girls didn't play a team outside their league until the district tournament.
But Western Branch didn't stop there. At the state tournaments July 22-24, the Senior All-Stars, managed by Bob Arnette, placed seventh. The Major team came back to Chesapeake with a third-place finish. Snipes hopes that the WBLL's performance will serve as a wake-up call to others in the area and force the naysayers to take notice.
``Obviously, there is a need for what we have to offer,'' he said.
The league fielded 10 teams and had over 150 girls participating. Until this season, players in the Western Branch section of Chesapeake who wanted to be on a team had to travel to Portsmouth. Snipes and other parents wanted their kids to be able to play at home, so the WBLL was born.
But the road to the district titles was paved with a series of obstacles, with the lack of suitable playing fields at the top of the list.
In the beginning of the season, games were played at Western Branch High School. At the end of May, a few municipal fields opened up, but those were eventually lost to adult softball leagues.
Things got so bad that not only did the league return to playing games in Portsmouth, but they were forced to rent out fields at the Craney Island Coast Guard Station.
``We were down to just days before the season opener before we definitely had fields,'' Snipes said. ``Next season, there's a lot of things we'd like to do, but the first thing is to push (the City of Chesapeake) a little bit harder for field usage.
``Hopefully, by winning districts and going to state and showing what our girls are capable of doing, the city will look on us a little more favorably.''
The WBLL Major (ages 9-12) All-Stars were coached by Arnold Barrow and included Courtney Brown, Amy Dembowski, Tamika Eley, Blair Forehand, Shawna King, Emilie Leavitt, Lena Lilley, Sarah McLendon, Brooke Press, Natalie Shoemaker, Micah Snell, Emily Snipes, Virginia Waldmann, and Laura Whitehurst.
The WBLL Senior (ages 13-15) All-Stars were coached by Ray Bunch and included Cathy Arnette, Rebecca Baker, Andrea Bunch, Kimberly Davitt, Melanie Dembowski, Lindsay Forehand, Shelly Gardner, Rebecca Greco, Courtney Lesniewicz, Jessica Manuleleua, Natalie Parker, Christina Perkinson, and JoBeth Willey. by CNB