THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 11, 1994 TAG: 9410110040
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DIANE TENNANT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 167 lines
THE SOFTBALL TEAM was losing - in fact, the players were getting shellacked - but their spirit wasn't cowed.
``We're professionals out here!'' shouted Amy Driskell.
``Sure we are, sure we are!'' chanted the crew that was warming the bench.
``Professional car cleaners!''
And the next runner came home.
But Team Auto Detailing of Chesapeake, sponsored by owner Virginia Driskell, hadn't pulled its trump card yet. They still had Driskell to send to bat. And Driskell. And Driskell. And Driskell. And Driskell-Miller. And Driskell-Coiner. And Driskell-Wilson. And Driskell-Wallace. And Driskell-Thoms. And the sons-in-law.
``We're all sisters,'' confided Cathy Driskell-Coiner to a player who had just finished another game.
``Wait a minute,'' the player said, looking down the bench. ``You're all sisters?''
``Yeah,'' said brother David Driskell. ``We're all sisters.''
``That's cool,'' said the player.
COOL WAS ONE WAY to describe the 50-degree evening of Oct. 3. Hot was another way.
Team Crocs was hot. In the first game of a doubleheader, the score was 11-1 over Auto Detailing, but a Crocs runner - one in a series - had missed touching first base.
``Runs count,'' the umpire intoned.
``If she was off on first, I don't understand why they counted,'' complained pitcher James ``Tiger'' Baker, a Driskell fiance. ``I mean, it isn't gonna matter much. But. . . ''
In the outfield, Shelly Driskell caught a ball and the Crocs batter was out.
``Look at her, look at her,'' Virginia said, watching Shelly dance. ``She's so excited she can't stand it.''
``Hey, Mom,'' shouted Cathy Driskell from her catcher's position. ``How's the score?''
``Fifteen to 1,'' Virginia said, laughing.
``Fifteen to 1 and they haven't called the game yet? Oh, good.''
The Driskell family has been a team for years. Twenty-four years, in fact, as the youngest Driskell just turned 24 in August. Seven sisters and four brothers, the children of a Norfolk policeman and his wife, learning how to play nicely together in a crowded house.
``Eleven people don't get along all the time, you know,'' Virginia said. ``We've got a real nice, nice family. I'm so proud that I raised that many children - and I'm not taking all the credit - but I never had a bad kid.''
``Mom,'' said one of her kids, pointing to the Crocs bench. ``They're cussin' over there.''
KERRY SINCLAIR, A FAMILY friend who is allowed to fill out the roster, stepped up to bat.
``All right, Kerry, you know what to do now,'' Virginia said. ``Just meet the ball.''
But the pitch went wide of the plate.
``Ball,'' intoned the umpire.
``Beautiful pitch,'' the Crocs coach encouraged his player. ``Just a little outside.''
``About a foot outside,'' Virginia commented.
Penny Driskell-Wilson took the bat and whacked the ball to drive Tiger on to second base.
``Whhooooo!'' shouted the bench.
Keith Dickinson, another friend, stepped up to the plate.
``All right, Keith, now you're ready, now you're ready,'' Virginia urged.
``Come on, Keeeiiith,'' Penny shouted.
Whack!
Tiger went to third, but Penny was tagged out at second. Terry Driskell-Wallace stepped up to bat. A short grounder, and Tiger and Keith went out.
``It's 183-1!'' cheered the benchwarmers.
``Yeah,'' said Tiger, ``but we got one in the first inning!''
``TEAM DRISKELL'' HAS BEEN playing ball in the Chesapeake adult league for just two years. Last year, Mom confided, they were pretty bad. This year, they're hoping for second place.
It could have been first place except for Crocs, which signed up late and was assigned the only remaining slot, in the beginner league.
``The team that was on before us, they played Crocs last week and Crocs beat 'em 40 to 1. Forty to 1,'' Virginia said. She settled back into her lawn chair behind home plate and addressed her scorebook.
``How many runs did they get?'' Amy shouted to her mother.
``Eight,'' Virginia said.
``I mean in the whole game,'' Amy shouted back.
Virginia took her pencil and summed them up. ``Seventeen, 23, 25, 28.''
``Tiger!'' Amy shouted gleefully to the bench. ``They don't even have 30 yet!''
A Croc player came over to Virginia and apologized for the score. ``We really, really tried to get out of this league,'' he said, leaning over the fence in his T-shirt and stretch shorts, defying the weather.
``They're in good shape,'' Amy noted to a sister. ``And they've got really nice legs.''
``Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey,'' the Crocs player protested.
``Hey, Mom!'' interrupted Sharon Driskell-Thoms, leaping off the field. ``I got two hits! Did you see me? Base hits, too. And I'm a girl!''
OUT OF 11 Driskell children, all the girls play ball. Only the three oldest sons haven't joined the team.
Nurses, waitresses, policemen, workers in the family business, the Driskell kids have gone their separate ways in employment. The softball team has drawn them back together.
``After you're grown and married, you have your own life,'' Virginia explained. ``I think they wanted to do this to keep together.''
The first game had ended, 28-1, and the second was under way. Penny was on first base, with Keith at bat.
``All right, Keith, bring her home now,'' Virginia urged. But he was out on the first hit. Angie Driskell-Miller stepped up to the plate, the bat tucked in the crook of her right elbow, above the stump where a hand was missing since birth.
It didn't hinder her catching at first base, though, and it wasn't about to stop her at bat.
``OK, Angie, Angie,'' cheered her mom. ``All right, Angie. Just meet the ball.
``Oh, my goodness. Bless her heart.''
Angie turned cheerfully from the foul ball she had just slugged and peered at her mother through the fence.
``I hit that ball,'' she reported. ``I hit it hard. I just hit it the wrong direction.''
One hit later, and Penny charged across home plate for the Driskells' first score. Then Cathy burned in the second one.
``Way to go, Cathy!'' Virginia called.
``I caught a ball!'' her oldest daughter shouted back. ``And I hit a ball!'' She ran off the field with her arms in the air. The score was 2-2.
Then the Crocs sent out a hitter wearing REAL stretch baseball pants, and he slugged a home run. The runners just kept coming, and the score reached 11-2.
``What's the score, Mom?'' asked a daughter. ``How many hundreds to what?''
``Come on,'' shouted someone from the bench. ``We need 11 runs. Come on, y'all.''
The Crocs scorekeeper walked up to Virginia. ``You have two or three (runs)?'' he asked.
``Two,'' Virginia said.
``I have three,'' he responded. ``Penny, Kathy and Kerry.''
``Oh, my goodness,'' Virginia said. ``We do have three.''
At home plate, the Crocs pitcher had just walked Angie.
``All right, Angie. That's a good girl,'' her mother approved.
``You are worthy, sister!'' Cathy shouted to first base.
Minutes later, Angie and two more runners made the score 13-5.
``I regret one thing,'' Virginia said. ``Their father died three years ago Oct. 5. He was a real sports fan. He loved all sports, and he enjoyed the kids so much. He would love to see this.''
Top of the fifth, and the Driskells were at the top of their form. In short order, Amy, David, Sharon, Penny and Keith pelted across home plate. Ten runs for ``Team Driskell.''
But by the end of the game, Crocs had 22.
Virginia's enthusiasm was undimmed.
``I'm very, very proud of 'em,'' she said. ``I've got good kids. Adults now, but they're still my kids.
``This is about the only thing that most of 'em do together. It's just a neat way for them to get together.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff color photos by JOSEPH JOHN KOTLOWSKI
Top: Driskell family member Angie Miller cheers on the team. Below:
The family softball team at Point of View Park in Virginia Beach
before Monday's game.
James ``Tiger'' Baker, a Driskell fiance, pitches the ball.
by CNB