RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
A 21-5 shellacking at the hands of Air Force Personnel Center 1 in the first game of what turned out to be a two-game playoff for the Randolph intramural softball championship Aug. 20 didn't bode well for Air Education and Training Command.
But AETC, which possessed the intramural league's best regular-season record at 12-1, settled down and cooled off AFPC 1's hot bats in the second game, winning 10-4 and capturing the league's championship trophy.
The title was Ron "Gator" Sandoval's first in five years of coaching the AETC team.
"We put the first game out of our minds," he said. "We felt like we got all our bad swings out in the first game and just approached the second one like a brand new game."
AETC, which drew a first-round bye and went undefeated in the playoffs until the 21-5 loss to AFPC 1, could have won the title by taking the first game. However, AFPC 1, which also drew a first-round bye before losing to 12th Security Forces Squadron in the second round and dropping to the loser's bracket, reeled off six consecutive wins, including their resounding victory over AETC, to reach the championship game.
They jumped on AETC for three runs in the top half of the first inning in the first game, highlighted by a two-run home run from shortstop Todd Faber, and added three more in the second inning. Left-center fielder Rob Thomas singled, reached second and scored on a single by extra hitter Matt Stiles, who later scored on a single by Faber. Catcher George Macaluso, who also reached base on a single, added the third run when Faber was forced out at second on a ground ball by first baseman Pup Shortland.
AETC narrowed the gap to 6-3 in the bottom of the second when right-center fielder Joe Thompson and extra hitter Eddie Sandoval delivered bases-loaded singles and second baseman Tony Imondi came through with a sacrifice fly, but that was as close as they would get the rest of the game.
AFPC 1 added a single run in the third inning when third baseman Scott Fritts scored on a single by Stiles and three more in the fourth inning.
Leading 12-5 at the end of five innings, AFPC 1 scored nine runs in the top of the sixth. Consecutive singles by right fielder Sean How and right-center fielder Steve Banks started the frame. After Banks was forced out at second on a ground ball by left fielder Vince Colo, singles by second baseman Greg Sevening and Fritts plated two runs and a pair of walks to Thomas and Stiles resulted in another run.
Three more runs scored on a single by pitcher Jimmy Layman and an error on a fly ball by Macaluso, and Faber hit his second two-run homer of the game. How drove in AFPC 1's final run on a single after Shortland doubled to left field.
AETC changed pitchers in the second game, and the strategy paid off quickly as Randy Mayberry retired the first six AFPC 1 batters he faced and pitched four shutout innings.
Meanwhile, AETC mirrored AFPC 1's fast start in the first game, taking a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Steve "Wheels" Smith grounded out to start the first, but five consecutive hits - singles by Jeff Zukowski, left fielder Rod Dycus and first baseman Mike Landez, a triple by shortstop Ron Meadows and a double by right fielder Jon Sanders - gave AETC an early four-run lead. Sanders later scored when third baseman Bill Muse, who had reached first on a single, beat out a throw to second on an attempted force-out.
Dycus' two-run triple extended AETC's lead to 7-0 in the bottom of the second and two more runs scored in the fourth. Smith reached base on an error, Zukowski singled to left center and Dycus' single plated Smith. Zukowski scored when Meadows' ground ball to second base forced Dycus at second and the throw to first for an attempted double play was off the mark.
Coach Jim Miller's fiery conference with his players between innings - which included an emptying of bats in the dugout - seemed to spark AFPC 1 in the top of the fifth when How singled and Banks smashed a two-run homer, but those were the only runs the team managed in the inning.
AETC's final run came in the bottom of the sixth when Smith tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Zukowski.
AFPC 1 loaded the bases in the top of the seventh and Fritts delivered a two-run single with two outs to narrow the gap to 10-4, but Thomas flied out to left center to end the game.
Ron Sandoval attributed AETC's success this year to the right mix of veterans and younger players. He said last year's team, which finished third, was more youthful.
"With all our veterans, we played smarter ball this year," he said. "We also had more consistent hitting."