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Over 40s 10-run rule WSA in deployed softball tourney, 24-14

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Denise Johnson
  • 380th AEW Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  The 380th Air Expeditionary Wing Softball Tournament kicked off with the Over 40s taking the authoritative win over Wing Staff Agency, 24-14, at the softball complex here Wednesday.

The Over-40s came back from a 7-6 deficit at the top of the second inning to continuously hammer WSA, stretching the lead in each at-bat.

The team capitalized on fielding errors and solid hitting when in the bottom of the third inning Bruce "Shirt" Perkins, right fielder, singled with a grounder between short and third. Chief Val Rimbey-Barnett, followed up with a grounder for the force out at second.
The inning proceeded when, with two down, left fielder Chief Shavnore, the Over 40s heavy hitter, sent one deep for an in-the-park homer, scoring three runs. Command Chief Slater, third baseman, followed up with a double to be brought in with a homerun by Chief Bridges, shortstop. O-6er Kyle Garland, first baseman, finally closed the inning and brought the damage to an end with a pop fly for the final out.

Mike Frye, right fielder, stepped up as WSA's first batter of the inning to get to first on an error. Mario Morin, WSA's star shortstop, hit one deep for the first out leaving the runner stranded. Although the inning started shaky, WSA managed to recoup their losses and brought their score to within one of the Over 40s.

On their next at bat, the wing king himself, Brig. Gen. H.D. Polumbo, Jr., second baseman, stepped up for the Over 40s and drove one back to pitcher, Dave Clavette, for an out. Paul Murphy, the southpaw vice commander, ripped one up the first baseline for another out and a fine play by Anthony Spratley. Shouts of "I object!" came from the Over 40s dugout, providing a bit of team-to-team smack talking to the staff judge advocate major.

The battle was determined when the Over 40s lead continued to stretch to a 10-run rule difference. The WSA had to get on the scoreboard to extend the play of the game but failed to do so when a series of outs, starting with Major Joan Hoyte's pop fly to the general at second, put them out of the running.

The Over 40s played again Thursday at 8:30 p.m. The time, claimed to be past Chief Slater's bed time, did not provide their opponents the edge they were looking for.
The second game of the tournament pitted the Fire Dawgs against Security Forces Squadron 30A. The Fire Dawgs grabbed the early lead ending the first inning 6-2.
30A struggled to get on base in the second inning, failing to score, allowing the Fire Dawgs an opportunity for a definitive lead. Keith Read, first baseman, looked 'em over for a walk in the second inning. Rene Luna, second baseman, hit a poke for a single, moving Read to third.

The next two batters moved the runners around and brought base runners onto second and third at a sacrifice of two outs. Brian Tonnancour, left center, got to first on an error and gained a RBI in the process. The Dawgs finished the inning with 8 over 2.
30A started the third inning with an out for their first batter. The second batter moved to third on fielding errors, bringing Kevin Kline, first baseman, up with an easy RBI off a base hit. Sade Spencer, second baseman, hit into the force out at second and saved herself on first. The inning ended with the 30A team adding one to the scoreboard.
Jason Manko, right fielder, had a brief show at the plate when he hit one deep to right center. The hit turned into an out as Aaron Goldsmith, right fielder, hustled over to right center for the pick up and sent the batter back to the dugout. Designated hitter, Mark Waters, hit one in front of the plate for an early second out. Third baseman Carl Doke made an appearance at first only to be left stranded as Mitchell Robinson, pitcher, hit a line drive to 30A's third baseman, Ben Hartley, to seal the missed opportunity to score.
Fire Dawgs' pitcher, Robinson, lost his rhythm as the game progressed and he struggled to get the ball over the plate.

The 30As took the reprieve and walked several batters, including several walk-in runs. Vanessa Batten, left fielder, managed a short fly ball to right and Matthew Jeitz, DH, hit a grounder to first. An error on 30A's shortstop, Chad Diehl, moved runners around the bases. After three walked runs, the Dawgs called Jerome Black to the mound from left field.

David LeBlanc, shortstop, hit a grounder to Luna at second, who threw to first for the sure out, but missed the double play. Kline came up swinging as well, and hit one back to Black for the last out of the inning at first.

The Dawgs started the next inning with a triple. An error on Kline at short brought in a RBI with a base hit following. Read got to first on another error but was forced out at second. A walk fills the first two bases.

Errors and ok hits brought the Dawgs around the bases to a score of 10-7 over the struggling SFS 30A team. Leblanc stopped a hard bouncer to short for the second out at second base but Manko returned the favor with a deep hit to left. By the grace of another error, he moved to third. The Dawgs wrapped up their at-bat with a score of 12-7.
The game maintained the same pace as the Dawgs increased their lead, and the 30As battled back to attempt to even the score. Brandon Ranahan, catcher for the 30As, gave his all with a deep drive to left. The hit looked like a possible triple only to be snatched up by Tonnancour as he flew in from far left for a great catch out of the blue.
The game ended 18-8, seeing the Fire Dawgs into the next bracket.

"The favorites" Over-40 Line Up
*Brig. Gen. H.D. Polumbo, Jr.
Colonels
Kyle Garland 1b
Frederick Thaden
*Paul Murphy C
Lt. Colonels
Wayne Blanchette 2b
Charles Cunningham LC
*Adrian White
*Lawrence Brundidge
*Matthew Venzke
*Timothy MacGregor
Command Chief Kevin Slater 3b
Chief Master Sgts.
Kevin Shavnore LF
Karen De Jong
*Val Rimbey-Barnett P
Arthur Bridges SS
Master Sgts.
Bruce Perkins RC
Randall Boldt RF
Captain
*Steven Keifer
*Substitute
The final tallies for the first night of games are as follows:

Over 40 vs WSA 24-14
Fire Dawgs vs SFS 30A 18-8
SFS vs FSS 17-7
CE 2 vs CE 3 22-19

The final tallies for the second night of games are as follows:

Fire Dawgs vs 5/6 Council 23-16
CES 1 vs SFS 33-4
Over 40 vs CES 1 22-13

Note: winners are the first team listed