Softball tourney kicks off outdoor sports season

  • Published
  • By PAO Staff Report
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  After losing to E Troop, 1st Squadron (Airborne), 40th Cavalry Regiment, 17-11, to drop into the loser's bracket of the JBER-Richardson pre-season softball tournament Saturday, 98th Maintenance Company's bats came alive.

The 98th offense scored 70 runs in their final three games, while their opponents managed only 17.

First they trounced the 95th Chemical Company, 20-10 on Buckner Physical Fitness Center's softball field 2, ending the game after five innings due to a quirk in the tournament's rules.

To speed play, any team leading by at least 20 runs after the third inning, 15 runs after the fourth inning or at least 10 runs after the fifth inning was declared the winner.
The victory advanced the 98th to a championship rematch against E Troop, while 95th finished the tournament in third place.

The maintence Soldiers quickly jumped out front with an 11-run first inning, then cruised to a 15-0 four-inning victory to force a second championship game.

The 98th offense surged to a 20-2 edge in the third inning of the second game, but E Troop fought back to stave off elimination with 5 runs in the fourth inning to make the score 20-7 and avoid th 15-run rule.

The maintenance Soldiers opened the floodgates in the top of the fifth inning, pushing another 15 runs across the plate and taking a 35-7 lead.

When E Troop failed to score in their half of the inning, 98th Maintenance were declared winners by the tournament's 10-run rule.