By Kim J. Harmon

STERLING, West Virginia – The numbers are positively staggering.

A 29-2 record and 0.87 ERA are just the start, though. There is also the matter of the 43 hits allowed in 120 innings (an opponent’s batting average of only .100), the 16 shutouts, and the astounding nine no-hitters to consider.

There probably is no word that could do all of that justice.

Except . . . wow.

Oh, it has been an exceptional season for Lisa Morgan of Newtown, alright, a 13-year-old pitcher for the Connecticut Charmers traveling softball team. And with those numbers it should be no surprise – although surprise is hardly an adequate word – that the Charmers finished the 2000 summer season at 69-5 with 10 different tournament championships and a recent ninth-place finish at the Pony Nationals in Sterling, West Virginia.

Zowie.

Not bad for her third year in travel softball, huh? Two years ago, Lisa played on Newtown’s U12 travel team under her father, Ernie, and last year played with the U12 Connecticut Thunder. This year, the Charmers organization fielded its first U12 team and that is where Lisa came in . . . as a starting pitcher and occasional first baseman.

She shared most of the pitching duties with Kim Ovittore as well as a few other part-time pitchers. Lisa’s 29 wins helped carry the Charmers to two AFA tournament championships, four Pony tournament championships, the NSA and ASA state championships, the Triple Crown regional championship, and the ASA New England Regional championship.

All of that success led the Charmers to the Pony Nationals in Sterling, West Virginia, where some 57 teams from as far south as South Carolina, as far north as Canada, and as far west as Ohio converged.

The teams were separated into eight brackets, with the winner of each bracket reaching the tournament quarter-finals. Against teams like the Pittsburgh Spirit, the South Jersey Breakers, the Dixie Chicks, the Philly Flash, the Baseliners Blue, and the Baseball Plus All-Stars the Charmers finished in second-place in the bracket.

Two losses against the Pittsburgh Spirit were the difference.

“The competition was tough,” said Lisa, who will be an eighth-grade student at the Newtown Middle School this fall. “I had hoped we would finish in the top eight. It was close, but we got knocked out, 3-2, in the bottom of the seventh.”

The Virginia Fire ‘N’ Ice won the tournament for the second year in a row.

The Charmers warmed up for the Pony Nationals at the ASA New England Regionals in Danvers, Massachusetts July 14-16.

Over the course of that weekend, the Charmers battled the weather, difficult playing conditions and some of the toughest teams in New England, scoring a total of 42 runs while giving up only 7. The Charmers needed only six games to come away with the regional title.

The Charmers opened up bracket ball play on July 14 with a 5-0 victory over the Tewksbury Redmen, holding Tewksbury without a hit over seven innings. The Charmers secured one of the top four seeds in the double elimination round with a 12-1 victory over the Skowhegan Sluggers.

The Charmers then opened the double elimination round with a 6-0, no-hit victory over the Worcester Rebels. Next, the Charmers faced the Somersett and despite getting only four hits and giving up an unearned run in the bottom of the 7th to tie the game, the Charmers defense and timely hitting resulted in a 4-2 win.

This set up a winner’s bracket final rematch with the Swansea Mud Dogs. The Charmers jumped out to a 4 - 0 lead, before the Mud Dogs tied the game at in the bottom of the seventh. But for the second day in a row, defense and timely hitting proved to be the key as the Charmers pushed across two in the top of the 10th for a 7 - 5 tiebreaker victory.

The Charmers faced a weary Northeast Invasion team in the championship game (the Invasion had held on to defeat the Mud Dogs by a score of 8 - 6 in the loser’s bracket finals). The Charmers scored eight runs on eight hits, while holding the Invasion without a hit, to take the New England title and earn a berth in the ASA National Tournament in Bloomington, Indiana.

The ASA Nationals are scheduled to run Tuesday, August 8, through Tuesday, August 15, but it looks like the Charmers are opting not to attend after their big trip down to Sterling, West Virginia for the Pony Nationals.

And, well, how much more success can the Charmers stand?

The Charmers draw players from all over the state of Connecticut – from Newtown to Cheshire to Waterford and as well as other points north, south, east or west. The Charmers began tournament play back in April, but even after the Pony Nationals softball is hardly over.

After a much deserved – but short – rest, it looks like Lisa will be in the fall softball circuit to keep the ol’ skills sharp.

Then it’s on to 2001.