THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 2, 1995 TAG: 9506300206
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 28 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
APRIL MAY HAVE brought heat to the middle of June.
April Bunn, 12, pitched the Courthouse Braves to a city recreational softball championship, completing a perfect season with a 10-5 victory over the Woodstock Lazers in the girls 10-12 fastpitch championship at Princess Anne Park.
The game was softball, but there were no tantalizing tosses or arcing pitches coming to the plate. The throws came in straight and hard. This was the first season that the Virginia Beach Department of Parks and Recreation has offered fastpitch.
But you couldn't tell by watching Bunn. She fired pure smoke, baffling the Lazer hitters, and even her own catcher a couple of times.
She amassed seven strikeouts and helped her cause with a 2-for-4 effort at the plate.
Her father and coach, David Bunn, sounded confident but cautious before the game.
``The girls play decent ball, when they show and decide to play,'' he said. ``We ought to do OK if we play like we're capable.''
His counterpart, Tom Lewis, smiled when told of his adversary's concerns.
``Yeah, I'd say they have a pretty good team,'' Lewis said. ``They beat us twice during the regular season. You don't have to mention the scores.''
Let's just say that Lewis must have wondered if Courthouse was scoring touchdowns instead of runs.
He must have felt encouraged when his Lazers broke the ice and took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning.
Woodstock pitcher Amber Newell put in a fine performance of her own against the usually thunderous bats of the Braves. She held them hitless in the first inning.
Courthouse first baseman Ashley Loeback led off the bottom of the second with a single. She then stole second, went to third on an infield ground-out and scored. The Braves added another run to go up, 2-1.
But the Lazers refused to fold when shortstop Traci Villenowith doubled across two runs, helping her team regain the lead, 3-2, in the top of the third.
Courthouse took the lead at 5-3 and never lost it when Nikki Garbati doubled to right field, scoring two runners ahead of her, and scored herself on a throwing error in the Braves half of the third.
And that's where it stayed until the Braves bats erupted in the fifth. They scored five runs off relief pitcher Kerri Lewis to take a commanding 10-3 lead.
Woodstock made a stab at a comeback when the hard-hitting Villenowith crushed a triple to left field, scoring Courtney Orbach. Villenowith scored on a ground out, but Bunn finished the game with a strikeout.
``Well, we played better than before,'' said Lewis. ``I don't know what we did, but I'm proud of the girls.''
David Bunn was pleased with the victory and the championship:
``We didn't play as well as we usually have,'' he said. ``We won the championship and that's what counts.''
In the girls 13-15 fastpitch championship, the Kempsville Pink Panthers culminated an unbeaten season with a 19-3 victory over the Great Neck Stars.
The Pink Panthers dominated their entire season, averaging 21.5 runs an outing while allowing only 3.6. They won their second game of the season, 45-0.
A big reason was the blinding windmill arm of pitcher Kelly Tellefsen, a 13-year-old rising Kempsville Middle School eighth-grader. Tellefsen pitched the Braves to the city championship. She was the third-leading hitter on the Pink Panthers with a .583 average.
Leading the offensive effort was Dwan Riddick and her .700 average. Short stop Angela Oliveto was right behind with a .696 average. MEMO: Sports editor Lee Tolliver contributed to this story.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
Third baseman Courtney Orbach, left, and shortstop Traci Villenowith
try for a fly ball. The two collided and dropped the ball, but both
later played a role in the Courthouse Braves' victory.
April Bunn, 12, daughter of coach David Bunn, amassed seven
strikeouts and went 2-for-4 at the plate.
by CNB