436th APS drops 9th AS in softball

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Chuck Walker
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  As the lone undefeated team in the National League, the 436th Aerial Port Squadron intramural softball team is maintaining its focus to secure the top seed moving into the playoffs.

In a display of that focus, Garrett Borba went 4-for-4 with a double and four RBIs, Daniel Bentley went 3-for-4 with two doubles, an inside-the-park home run and four RBIs and Joshua Yoder, player-coach went 2-for-3 with an inside-the park home run and four RBIs as the 436th APS pasted the 9th Airlift Squadron 15-5 with a mercy-rule win in five innings July 12, 2012, at Dover Air Force Base, Del.

The victory pushes the 436th APS record to 7-0 on the season, while the 9th AS searches for answers after dropping to 0-6.

"We can't let down," said Yoder, player-coach with the 436th APS. "We have to try and not take anybody for granted. We're trying real hard to go undefeated so we can get the top spot in the playoffs."

After grabbing a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, the 436th APS began its run to put the game out of reach.

In the bottom of the third inning, Borba hit a two-run double, Zachery Dale hit an RBI single and Yoder hit a three-run, inside-the-park homer to give the 436th APS a commanding 8-0 lead.

With the score 12-2, the 9th AS attempted to avoid the mercy rule by scoring three runs in the top of the fifth inning, getting back-to-back RBI doubles from Michael Walsh and Ryan Mozingo to make the score 12-5.

However, the 436th APS came right back with a two-run single from Borba and an RBI single from Joseph Rinehart to push the score to 15-5, invoking the mercy rule in the fifth inning.

Borba said the key for the 436th APS was good hitting and taking advantage of the many 9th AS errors.

"We are a solid team," Borba said. "Every batter in our lineup is solid. We are a good contact team and we don't really have a weak position on our club. That is why we've been so successful."

William Russell, player-coach with the 9th AS, said his team is having fun despite the tough season so far and still no victories.

"We showed up and did the best we could," said Russell. "Our guys show up and have fun. I think the guys are having fun. We've been struggling with consistency all year. We started out with 18 people and now we're struggling to get 10 for each game with our flying mission. It's just hard to get consistency."

Yoder said that although a matchup in the championship game with the other undefeated softball team, the 436th Security Forces A team of the American League, would be nice, his team is focused on the job at hand and that is securing the top spot in the playoffs.

"I think it would be nice, but it's not something we're focused on," said Yoder about the potential matchup with the 436th SFS A team. "We see the standings each week they come out, but they are not in our head. We want to keep our focus on getting that number one seed in the playoffs. In fact, it would take us three wins in the playoffs just to get to meet them in the championship. We have a lot of work ahead of us."