The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

What a way for Dornette Wright to make her debut in the New Providence Softball Association with the game on the line for the defending champions Sunshine Auto Wildcats.

Tied at 3-3 in the top of the seventh inning with two out and two runners intentionally walked, the pressure was on the 17-year-old catcher and she delivered a two-run single as the Wildcats doubled up the Johnson’s Lady Truckers 6-3 in Tuesday night’s opener in the Banker’s Field at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex.

The game was supposed to be the second time around for the league’s two finalists from last year, but after the initial meeting was called off due to the rain two weeks ago, they finally met. The two will be back on Saturday when they will play in the official delayed opening of the season.

But for now, Sunshine Auto’s manager Anthony Bullard said it was good to get the first taste of victory.

“We have some new players, about seven of them, some of them are veterans, who played on other teams in the league,” Bullard said. “We just need to get our chemistry together. We were a little jittery at the beginning, but we settled down. And it was good that the rookie was able to come through with everybody picking on her.”

Bullard was referring to the fact that the Truckers intentionally walked shortstop Larikah Russell and newly acquired pitcher Thela Johnson to pitch to Wright with the bases loaded with Dana Cambridge on third after she reached safely on an error.

All she did was drill the 0-2 pitch from Diva Burrows up the middle sending both Cambridge and Russell home for a 5-3 Sunshine Auto lead.

Russell then caught a ride home as Shakanah Sweeting followed with a run-producing single.

“After they waked our two power hitters, it was very scary for me as a rookie, but I said my team needed me and I heard someone say ‘you know your worth’ and then the ball came,” she remembered. “I just went for it and I hit it good and got two runs in. It felt so good.”

Wright, who started behind the plate for regular catcher Dornette Edwards, who started at first, said she was shaky at the beginning of the game, but her teammates settled her down.

Russell’s battery mate, Thela Johnson went on to finish with a one-hitter, striking out eight Lady Truckers. With one-out in the bottom of the seventh, she showed why the Wildcats recruited her to replace the retired Mary ‘Cruise’ Edgecombe. Johnson was able to leave two Lady Truckers’ runners in scoring position as she struck out pinch hitter Kevinique Stubbs and forced Mia Turner to ground out to end the game.

Johnson made hr presence felt from the top of the first inning when she knocked in second sacker Rebecca Moss with a two-out RBI triple. Moss had gotten on base on a single. Johnson, however, was left stranded on third after the Sunshine Auto was called for an obstruction on the base path.

The Lady Truckers, managed by Bobby ‘Baylor’ Fernander and coached by Mario Ford, responded in the first inning as they scored three unearned runs off Johnson, highlighted by a RBI sacrificed fly from Dawn Johnson, who made her return to the league after a long hiatus at first base. Theota Johnson added another RBI sacrifice fly.

The Lady Wildcats gained the momentum in the sixth as they took advantage of a costly error as Russell and Johnson used their experience to score to pull even with the Lady Truckers at 3-3 going into the dramatic seventh inning.

In suffering the loss, Burrows eight hits and three strike outs. The Lady Truckers also turned the only double play of the game in the second inning to foil an attempt by the Lady Wildcats to score.