THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 25, 1996 TAG: 9607240130
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 17 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Sports
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
LENGTH: 66 lines
IT WAS, said Bennett's Creek Senior Little League girls softball coach Scotty Stickels, ``something right out of Hollywood.''
That's how he described the District 6 champion's comeback in the state championship game Tuesday against Bristol Eastern in Pound.
Lights.
Bennett's Creek, which had beaten Bristol 12-3 earlier in the day to force a title game in the double-elimination tournament, charges to a 3-0 lead through five innings.
Camera.
But Bristol, which had booted Bennett's Creek into the loser's bracket with an 11-7 win earlier in the tournament, explodes for four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning as BC's stellar defense suddenly self-destructs.
Action.
With one out in the top of the seventh, Kim Tribble doubles in Jennifer Shannon and Laurie Outlaw to send Bennett's Creek ahead 5-4 and Catherine Butler comes off the bench to deliver an RBI single that makes it 6-4.
Tribble, aided by outstanding plays in center by Melissa Sklar and Outlaw at second, pitches a scoreless seventh to preserve the win.
Coaches scream, kids hug and holler, parents go nuts.
That's a print.
The 13-, 14- and 15-year-old ``Kazaam'' kids become the first Bennett's Creek softball team ever to win a state title. They also qualify for the Division 4 state tournament in Kernersville, N.C., which begins - whew - on Saturday morning, leaving only two full days at home before hitting the road again.
The scripts of ``Mission Impossible'' and ``Courage Under Fire'' had nothing on the one fashioned by the Bennett's Creek girls.
``Not to sound overconfident, but we felt going into the tournament that we would be one of the top four or five teams,'' said Stickels. ``After we got up there and saw the other teams, we thought we were one of the top two. We have nine girls who were varsity letter winners on their high school teams. We felt we had a lot of experience and talent.''
Chemistry, too.
``They're a noisy, aggressive, enthusiastic bunch of girls,'' said Stickels. ``They're also big on team unity. That's what pulled us through.''
There was plenty of pulling for everyone to do. Bennett's Creek wound up playing seven games in five days in the 14-team, double-elimination tournament. Susan Frank and Shannon provided steady pitching, Sklar, Sarah Conroy, Outlaw and others provided big hits . . . it seemed everyone played a leading role at one time or another. Even the small group of parents who made the seven-hour trip to Pound and stayed for the duration pitched in.
``The parents were great,'' said Stickels, who also credited assistant coaches Mike Conroy and Barry Davis. ``Feeding the kids, washing uniforms, cheering . . . their support was really important.''
Bennett's Creek takes on the West Virginia state champion in the first round of the Division 4 tourney, a four-team, double-elimination affair. Stickels doesn't know anything about the opponent. But he knows plenty about his girls.
``Everything seems to be running together for us and we may not be done yet,'' he said.
Which means that Bennett's Creek may have a ``Multiplicity'' of titles before its blockbuster season is through. ILLUSTRATION: Kim Tribble's two-run double sends Bennett's Creek
Senior Little League girls softball team ahead to stay in title
game. by CNB