TEAMMATES ARE ALSO PARTNERS IN MARRIAGE; INFIELDER'S EYES LED TO RELATIONSHIP.Byline: Nevin Barich Nevin Barich (born August 6, 1979) is a former American sports journalist now working as the Senior Editor of The National Notary, a trade magazine based in Los Angeles with a circulation of more than 300,000 nationwide. Daily News Staff Writer It's a moment Tony Soporito will never forget. There he was, warming up with his adult coed softball team in its first game of the season in the summer of 1995. Soporito was standing around the dugout, minding his own business, when his eyes looked toward shortstop and his life was changed forever. No, he didn't see someone make a circus catch or make a great play on an impossible ground ball that he'll remember for the rest of his days. What Soporito saw was a lot more special: The woman who would one day become his wife, Krissy. ``It was love at first sight,'' Soporito said. ``Her eyes just catch people right away. There she was, playing shortstop, just warming up. She looked really attractive.'' Fast forward three years. Tony and Krissy are now married and are still playing together on the same coed softball team, helping to lead Kats and Dawgs, a C-3 Division team in the Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. Adult Slow Pitch Softball League, to a first-place standing and to wins in its first five games. The starting third baseman third baseman n. Baseball The infielder stationed near third base. Noun 1. third baseman - (baseball) the person who plays third base third sacker , Krissy is among the team and league leaders for batting average batting average n. Baseball A measure of a batter's performance obtained by dividing the total of base hits by the number of times at bat, not including walks. Noun 1. and on-base percentage, totaling .850 in both categories. She's also one of the best infielders, something that coach Kim Tachibana said is critical to the team's success. ``She's been playing fantastic ball for us,'' Tachibana said. ``She's very scrappy. Any ball that's hit to her, any ball that gets by her, she'll get a piece of. She plays as well as any man at the position.'' But Tony is no slouch slouch v. slouched, slouch·ing, slouch·es v.intr. 1. To sit, stand, or walk with an awkward, drooping, excessively relaxed posture. 2. To droop or hang carelessly, as a hat. v. of a player himself, batting leadofffor the team with a .750 batting average and racking up an on-base percentage near .800. He's also the starting left fielder with a cannon of an arm. ``From left field, he can throw people out at second base,'' Tachibana said. ``He can even get the runner out going to third. He's also got a lot of speed. Hitting-wise, he's very good. He's a right-sided hitter.'' The Soporitos have been a great asset for their team and for each other. But all of it might never have happened if Krissy went through on her doubts about not joining that softball team three years ago. ``I wasn't really planning on playing,'' Krissy said. ``I was used to playing on a lot of women's teams and the idea of playing on a coed team really didn't appeal to me. But then a friend came to me and said, `Why not play? You can always quit if you don't like it.' So I played and, basically, the only reason why I stayed on the team was because of Tony.'' From there, the two went to a bar where, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Tony, Krissy ``kicked my butt at foozball and never let me forget about it. She really rubbed it in.'' All of this eventually led to marital bliss. They were married in May of 1996 in Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. and now have a son, Brandon, who will turn 2 in October. After playing high school baseball in Iowa, Tony had a few pro-ball tryouts that didn't pan out. So he decided to end that chapter of his life and moved out to California in 1988. Even so, Tony couldn't stop playing the game in some form. Almost immediately after his move to the West Coast, the 28-year-old began playing competitive softball in the Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, Softball Association and the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. Softball Association. ``I just play to have fun,'' Tony said. ``That's all it really is.'' Krissy was an avid softball player at Kennedy High in Granada Hills from 1984-86. The 30-year-old also played as a freshman at Moorpark College Moorpark College is a California-state funded community college located on a 134 acre (542,000 m²) property reclining on a hill in Moorpark, a town in Ventura County, California. in 1987 before taking a few years off from the game to concentrate on work and school. Eventually, Krissy found out she couldn't stay away forever and played on several women's teams before joining her first coed softball squad and meeting her current beau. So have the two learned anything from all that's happened the past three years? ``Yes, that married couples can play on the same team and succeed,'' Krissy said. On the field . . . and off. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (Color) Krissy and Tony Soporito play on the same softball team at Rancho Santa Susana Santa Susana can refer to several places:
Tina Gerson/Daily News |
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