Air Force women shine with silver at Armed Forces championships

The Air Force women’s softball team settled for second place after beating Navy, 3-1, at the Armed Forces Softball Championships Sept. 24 at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C.

The team finished the triple round-robin tournament with a 4-5 record, competing against teams from the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. The Army squad won the tournament with an undefeated 9-0 record.

Air Force Coach Salomon Vieyra, from Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, said the team finished the tournament on a high note by taking the silver medals after its win over Navy.

The Air Force team went 4-2 against the Navy and Marine Corps squads. The Army dominated the Armed Forces championships by averaging nine runs a game.

Vieyra said the Air Force team didn’t hit the ball consistently like they did in last year’s tournament, which they won.  The team averaged 3.5 runs per game in the tournament, which was below the seven runs per game they put out on their way to winning the Armed Forces title last year. The Air Force squad’s highest offensive output was an 8-7 win over the Marine Corps.

Defense helped the team in the tournament, shutting out the Marine Corps 5-0 on the first day of the tournament and in their decisive 3-1 win over Navy to claim the silver medals.

“We played great defense against Navy,” Vieyra said. “There were a couple of plays made in the outfield that saved some runs. We turned two double plays against them.”

Based on their performances at the tournament, three Air Force players were selected to the women’s All-Armed Forces team including Staff Sgt. Schameka White from Kadena Air Base Japan; Tech Sgt. Latonya Mathis from MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.; and Senior Airman Terri Hodges from Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark.

The All Armed Forces squad competed in the Amateur Softball Association/USA Women’s Open National Championship Saturday and Sunday in Oklahoma City.

In addition, Staff Sgt. Lyndsay Moen from the 433rd Airlift Wing at JBSA-Lackland, and Staff Sgt. Amber Devlin from Osan Air Force Base, Korea, were named to the Armed Forces Softball Championships Tournament Team.

The Air Force team was made up 15 active-duty players, including three JBSA members, who made the squad during tryouts at JBSA-Randolph in September. The three players from JBSA were Moen, Eileen McCain from  JBSA-Randolph, and Senior Airman Alisha Ayon from JBSA-Lackland.