Cops douse Fire Dawgs in Battle of the Badges

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Chuck Walker
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  The annual Battle of the Badges softball game between the 436th Security Forces Squadron and the 436th Civil Engineer Squadron Fire Department started in 1990 as the brainchild of former 436th SFS Chief Master Sgt. John Darcey and has been played ever since during Fire Prevention Week.

Another tradition of the game is that the 436th SFS usually gets the better of their brothers in badges. Wednesday night was no exception, as the 436th SFS pounded out 29 hits en route to an 18-3 blowout of the 436th CES Fire Department Oct. 10, 2012, at the softball field on Dover Air Force Base, Del.

The victory solidifies the 436th SFS' domination of softball on base in 2012, as they boast the base intramural championship, as well.

"We won the real thing, and now we've won the Battle of the Badges," said Rafael Gonzalez, player-coach with the 436th SFS. "We had some of our A-squad deploy since the championship, so we pulled some B-squad members to join us, and that made a real strong team. After two to three innings, everybody shook off the rust and we got on a roll."

The 436th SFS blew the game open in the top of the third inning, as they got RBI from Casey Wheatley, Andrew Bowen, Adam Fike, Thomas Faivre and Josh Dickinson, totaling five runs to seize a commanding 8-2 lead.

Fike went 4-for-4 with a two-run homer, a double and three RBI; Wheatley went 4-for-4 with a triple and three RBI; Gonzalez went 4-for-4 with three RBI; and Bryan Miller went 4-for-5 with four RBI to lead the 436th SFS in hitting.

"It's nice to win two championships in one year," Wheatley said. "Eveyone hit [well] and we had a good game. We did a little batting practice a couple of weeks ago to get ready for this game, and that paid off. Everybody got a hit."

Gonzalez said this was a victory everyone contributed to.

"Bryan Miller came over from the B-squad and had a big night," Gonzalez said. "Also Erik DeShane, who had only one hit all season on the B-squad, doubles it in one game with two hits tonight. Everybody played well."

For the 436th CES Fire Department, it was a matter of not having enough offense to compete with the 436th SFS. Michael Palatucci went 3-for-3 with a double to lead the fire deparment.

"We tried our best, but the Cops have a great team; they have really good camaraderie, and they played like champions," said Darren Ortiz, player-coach with the 436th CES Fire Department. "We'll just have to get them next year, I guess."

Ortiz said that despite the loss, everything else is going well with Fire Prevention Week.

"We're getting around to the Base Exchange, housing and a few of the schools educating children about fire prevention," Ortiz said of Fire Prevention Week.

Gonzalez said that he and his team were going to celebrate with a barbeque, courtesy of the 436th CES Fire Department and Lt. Col. Charles Kelm, the 436th CES commander.

"We beat [436th CES Fire Department] during Sports Day and the bet was the losing team had to sponsor a barbeque," Gonzalez said. "So we're going to go over to the fire department and get some free food. We love the Battle of the Badges."