Locking up a repeat: The bitter end

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class William Johnson
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  This story is the fifth in a five-part series highlighting last year's intramural softball team's attempt to defend their title.

A rookie player from the 436th Security Forces Squadron walked up to the plate and squinted into the sun while wiping sweat from his brow. Earlier in the game he already had played the role of hero sending the tense matchup into extra innings with a homerun. He had proven he could handle the pressure and was ready to wear the cape of a hero yet again. The bases were loaded and his team was down by four runs as he dug his cleats into the dirt inside the batter's box. The game was up to him as his team already had two outs and needed him to deposit another softball over the outfield fence. Starting with a 1-1 count, the first pitch was over the plate for a called strike to run the count to 1-2. He tensed up as the second pitch was in the air as everybody in the ballpark watched on. This pitch may be the last play of his team's season, which had been a roller coaster ride up to this point.

A lot of things had to fall in place for the 436th SFS softball team and their star rookie left-center fielder Tyler Evans to reach that pivotal moment. After starting out the season at 1-6, they soon realized that if they wanted to see the post season, they would need to have a nearly perfect second half of the season, and a lot of luck.

At the end of the regular season, the 436th SFS's playoff dreams rested in the hands of one of their biggest rivals, the 373d Training Squadron. The 373d needed to lose their last two regular season games to set up a tie-breaking playoff game between the 436th SFS and the 373d TRS to determine the fourth and final seed for the playoffs in the American League. With luck on their side, that's exactly what happened. The two teams sat at 7-7 at the end of the regular season with one win against each other, setting up the pivotal match for entry into the playoffs.

"The Attitude of the team is to come out and win," said Kenneth Bancroft, 436th SFS player-coach. "Our main focus is to play good defense and win every inning."

But they did more than just come out in win. It was a completely lopsided game and the 436th SFS dictated every aspect of it. The game against their rivals only lasted five innings before it was called due to the mercy rule, 20-7.  A motto for the team came out of the dominating performance, "win every inning."

"That was our goal before we started, win every inning and we did it," said Daniel Hoyme, 436th SFS pitcher. "As the scoreboard said, we took care of business and hopefully we can carry this momentum forward."

Their momentum however was abruptly halted in their first playoff game against the undefeated 436th Civil Engineer Squadron. Bancroft knew the challenges they would face and the skill sets of their first opponents in the playoffs. 

"We know CES is a good base hitting team and can score a lot of runs on you quickly," said Bancroft before the game. "So you have to play good defense and in turn you have to be out there hitting the ball yourself, it's the only way you're going to win in the playoffs."

But they failed to do both early on in the game. By the end of the third inning, the 436th CES racked up eight runs while the 436th SFS was only able to get one. Like the previous week, the game was called early due to the mercy rule11-1; however it was the 436th SFS this time that was being saved from a further beating.

Although the loss dealt a significant blow to their momentum, the morale of the team stayed high. Rafael Gonzalez, 436th SFS first baseman and last year's head coach, spoke about overcoming the challenges of winning from the losers' bracket that they were now in.

"We have come back from the losers' bracket before, so we can't lose anymore and we have to start hitting," said Gonzalez in the team huddle. "Let's push through this, and show them what champions are made of."

Gonzalez's words appeared to have been taken wholeheartedly as they showed up the next night to face the 436th Aerial Port Squadron. After losing their first playoff game, the pressure was greater than ever to come away with a victory.

"There's a lot of pressure to not make any errors; if we lose tonight we are going home," said Evans. "We need to keep our eye on the ball and get some solid hits and not make any errors on defense."

Much like their tie breaking game against the 373d TRS, the 436th SFS came out and performed like champions. The players were batting around and scoring easily and the defense was nearly perfect. This game, like the others ended 11-1 at the bottom of the fourth due to the mercy rule.

Brandon Shelton, 436th SFS third baseman, said the team played much looser which led to their easy victory.

"We were very relaxed tonight and came out with high morale and just had fun and won the game," he said.

But the excitement of the win was short lived. The 436th CES ended up losing that same night to the 436th Logistics Readiness Squadron, 4-14. The 436th CES fell into the losers' bracket, setting up a rematch between them and the 436th SFS.

Bancroft knew that they had to perform better than their first meeting or it would spell an end to their playoff run and hopes of becoming back-to-back softball champions.

"Last time we faced these guys we had problems hitting the ball," said Bancroft. "It's going to be absolutely crucial that we get our bats going early and we don't make any errors on defense or CES will run away with this game."

Just as Bancroft predicted, the 436th CES wasted no time putting points up on the board. They scored six in the first inning and held the 436th SFS to a three-and-out. But the championship mentality kicked in for the 436th SFS as they never gave up and held the 436th CES from scoring for three straight innings. Little by little the 436th SFS chipped away at lead on the score board until it was 11-9 at the bottom of the seventh in favor of the 436th CES. The 436th SFS had one last at bat to tie or win the game.

With a runner on second and two outs, their star rookie, Evans, approached the batter's box. The rookie, who was credited with a home run earlier in the season, needed to pull out another one now or at least get a base hit to keep their playoffs alive. Evans would soon clear his team's dugout.

"I was just trying to get a base hit and go back to the fundamentals and making sure I didn't drop my shoulder," said Evans. "It was just a good pitch and I swung hard at it and the ball just went out."

With his second homerun of the season, Evans tied up the game 11-11, and with the next batter drawing an out, the game headed into extra innings.

The eighth inning saw an even exchange of runs between the two teams. The 436th CES put up two runs that were answered immediately by the 436th SFS making the score 13-13 heading into the ninth.

The 436th CES started off the inning batting aggressively and put up four runs. After a string of infield outs, the 436th SFS now had to get at least four runs to keep the game going. After two quick outs, two single base hits and a walk, the bases were loaded.

This leads to the scene with Evans as he watches what may be the last pitch of his team's season. He judges the trajectory as being too low and lets the ball pass without swinging. But much to his horror, he hears what every batter dreads. The home plate umpire jumps into action calling the pitch a strike and dramatically signaling that Evans had struck out.

"The second strike was low and never went above six feet and nicked the back of the plate, it wasn't a strike at all so that's why I didn't swing," said Evans. "If I would have swung, it would've popped right up and never made it out of the infield."

The defending champs, now eliminated, had time to reflect on their season and all the setbacks they endured throughout.

"We faced a lot struggles by losing a lot of our veteran players from last year," said Bancroft. "But I think our new guys performed exceptional for their first year in softball and we will be a much more competitive team next year if these guys come back out to play. I'm proud of each and every one of them."

Even though the 436th SFS failed to lock up a repeat this year, Bancroft said they will be a tough opponent next year.

"It's going to be really hard to beat us next year," said Bancroft. "We have a tremendous amount of raw talent and come this time next season, we will be playing in that championship game."