Upon further review, Bok has company
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Upon further review, Karlie Bok has company.
The teenager from Woodlands, Washington was believed to be the first girl to play in a Babe Ruth World Series in Jamestown when the Pacific Northwest Regional champions stepped on the field at Diethrick Park for the first time last week in the 13-year-old tournament.
But then Cathy Crasti of Jamestown offered a friendly reminder after reading the feature story on Bok that appeared in the Times Observer, the OBSERVER and The Post-Journal on Thursday.
"Not to take anything from this awesome girl and (sports writer) Christian Storms' great article about her, but in 1980 there was a girl on the team from Salem, Oregon. Her name was Shawnee Topping,” Crasti wrote on Facebook Messenger. “My parents (Walt and Marlene Roode), Pat and Ron Ohl, and Rich and Kathy McMcMaster hosted (Salem). Pat and Kathy were the housing directors (for the World Series). Somewhere between Salem's local Babe Ruth board and here, the birth certificate must have been overlooked ... so when the housing assignments were made, it was assumed she was a boy."
Crasti said it wasn't until the team arrived in Jamestown late at night that its manager had to "call it to the attention" of Pat and Kathy that they didn't receive the correct information.
"A few quick changes later," Crasti said, "and Vince and Kathy Messina took three boys and the manager's daughter, who was 12, and Shawnee stayed with Judge Sam Alessi and his wife."
For those keeping score at home, Jamestown has been the site of 21 World Series since hosting that first one 46 years ago. In other words, Bok and Topping still find themselves in a league of their own.