Lackland Air Force Base, Texas –
During a wet night of intermittent drizzle that had already drenched the field and dampened the ball, thunder started rumbling during the bottom of the third inning.
At that time, the Lackland bats started rumbling, too.
Ten runs on 11 hits during the third carried the Lackland Warhawks Men's Varsity Softball Team to a 20-4 win over J.M. Indians in the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Spring Softball League April 24 at the Alva Jo Fischer Memorial Softball Complex.
Last month, the Indians beat the Warhawks 21-20, and that game ended a long Lackland winning streak in SAPAR competition at the complex.
"They're a good bunch of guys," said Eric Culver, Warhawks coach, referring to the Indians. "We owed them a little payback."
The win for the Warhawks came after they won the Georgetown Invitational Tournament last weekend.
"That (tournament) built up a lot of momentum coming into tonight," Culver said. "We played well."
Altogether, Lackland had 23 hits against the Indians, seven for extra bases.
During the first inning, Lackland first baseman Scott Shirley drove in one run with a sacrifice fly, and Culver batted in one run with a single.
Nevertheless, Lackland was down 3-2 going into the bottom of the third. Then, while the dark sky above started to make noise, the Warhawks clamored and came up with a 12-3 lead.
Pitcher Ted Ayon drove in two runs with a base hit; right fielder Sean Chaney singled two runs home; two doubles by shortstop Tracy Oliver created two runs; and two runs came home on a single by second baseman Rudy Zapata. A sacrifice fly by center fielder Kane Mueller drove in one run, and Culver belted a line drive to drive in one more.
Lackland added another run during the fourth inning. Culver singled and scored on a base hit by third baseman Lance Harris.
During the top of the fifth inning, Indians third baseman Gonzalo Castro hit a solo home run. However, the Warhawks were up 13-4, and their lead proved to be untouchable.
Indeed, Lackland scored five more runs during the bottom of the fifth frame. Ayon belted a three-run homer that bounced off the center-field scoreboard with a loud thud. Both Culver and Mueller drove in one run with base hits.
Going into the bottom of the sixth, the Warhawks were up 18-4. Lackland left-center fielder Rich Burley belted the ball for a stand-up triple. Oliver followed and knocked a pitch by Indians hurler Jaime Martinez over the center-field fence to seal the Warhawks win.
Besides powerful hitting, Lackland benefited from a couple of rare defensive plays.
During the top of the second inning, the Indians had right fielder Ronnie Martinez on first base and catcher Gene Carrillo on second with one out and two runs already home. Then, a hard grounder by left fielder Mark Pignato hit Carrillo in his left foot as he attempted to advance to third. The second base umpire called Carrillo out. The inning ended with no further damage for Lackland after left fielder Eric Schafer made the catch on a long fly.
With nobody on base and one out during the top of the fourth, Martinez smashed a line drive toward third. Harris stopped the ball with his glove hand. But the ball bounded away from Harris, and for a moment, it looked like it would land on the ground. Yet, just before the ball hit the dirt, it caromed into the glove hand of Oliver, as he sprinted toward third to back up Harris.
Also for the Lackland defense, Oliver and Shirley teamed up for a double play during the first.
Lackland is now 4-2 in the SAPAR Men's "C" Division. The next game on their regular schedule is May 1 at 7:45 p.m. at the complex.