CPTS bankrupts COMM 12-11

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Chuck Walker
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  In any team sport, winning or improvement is the goal, and for the 436th Comptroller Squadron softball team this is no exception.

Things didn't look good for CPTS early in the season when they had to forfeit their first game of the season because it didn't have enough players to play.

Those problems, now, are a thing of the past.

Fernando Waldron went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI and Nicholas Reyes went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI to lead CPTS to a 12-11 victory against the 436th Communications Squadron in a National League game at the base softball field July 6.

With the victory, CPTS pushes its record to 3-3 and is currently on a two-game winning streak.

"That's been a lot of hard work," said CPTS left-center fielder/coach Billy Beck of the difficulty in getting players to come out for each game. "When we get people to come out, we usually fare pretty well. We've turned it around and we're headed into the right direction. We're all excited to be here and to be playing and that helps."

After Comm jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, the CPTS bats went to work.

Russell Dewalt hit two-run double, Waldron hit an RBI-double and Reyes blasted a three-run homer as CPTS plated seven runs to take a 7-2 lead.

Comm got close several times to tying the game, but could never put together enough consistent offense to get over the hump.

In fact, Comm appeared to have tied the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, but its tying run was disallowed after the umpire ruled its base runner left the base early on an apparent sacrifice fly to centerfield.

Comm had another potential game tying run in the seventh inning called out at second base after the runner was tagged out after he was caught off the bag between second and third.

All of which obviously upset Comm second baseman/coach Josh Solomon.

"We deserved to lose that game," Solomon said. "We had bad base running, just lack of fundamentals. We beat ourselves. We didn't hit the ball well and when we did, we didn't run the bases well. We had a chance to tie the game, but our guy left the base early. We had another guy thrown out. We hit into double plays. Just fundamental mistakes are what we need to work on."

For CPTS it was a matter of putting together enough hits to match its already solid defense. In this game, every CPTS batter got at least one base hit in the victory.

"Our defense has never been a problem, we always have a solid defense," said Waldron. "In this game our bats responded. And we didn't allow the errors that we did make define the game. After that first win, we started to gel as a team."

Beck said CPTS' solid defense was not only a factor in its being able to defeat Comm, but in its two-game winning streak as well.

"The two double plays that we were able to turn were a huge factor in limiting their base running and not allowing them to get a big inning," Beck said. "Our defense was solid enough to hold them to two-to-three runs an inning and then we did the rest. "

After starting the season 3-0, Comm is moving in the opposite direction after dropping its last two games.

Solomon said Comm needs to get back to the fundamentals and remaining alert if it wants to stem the negative tide.

"It comes back to paying attention to the coaches," said Solomon. "We need to pay attention to what plays we need to make in the field. Pay attention to what the coaches tell us. Focus on what we are supposed to do and not allow other things to distract us."