48th CES pummels 48th CS and takes season championship

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Nathan Gallahan
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  The 48th Civil Engineer Squadron softball team pummeled the 48th Communication Squadron team in a two-game series Monday to take the intramural championship. 

Civil Engineering won the first game 17-2 after four innings due to the 15-run rule. The engineers ended the second and championship game by the 10-run rule after the sixth inning, 15-5. 

The teams played two games because the 48th CS beat the 48th CES once in the playoffs. If the communications squadron had won the first game, they would have taken the championship. Because they lost they had another chance during the second game to take home the trophy. 

In the first game, 48th CES took an early lead scoring three in the first inning while 48th CS earned only one run. 

For the next two innings, 48th CES kept the pressure up batting run after run in while 48th CS wasn't able to score once. 

"It's hard to win a game when you can't throw a strike," said Will Richards, the head coach for the 48th CS. "We lost our starting pitcher late in the season and we gave up a lot of runs." 

Once 48th CES was on a roll nothing short of the China Wall could have stopped them.
By the bottom of the fourth inning, the score was 17-1 and 48th CS had one more chance to survive. All they needed was two more runs to prevent the 15-run rule from ending the game. 

Jason Gagnon earned the teams only run that inning when Robert Marling batted him in and the game ended. 

Immediately after the first game, the championship game started and 48th CES took an early lead with their first batter, Kevin Lilley, scoring the first run. 

It wasn't until the top of the third inning when Justin Dillinger earned 48th CS their first run after a close call at home plate, tying the game at 1-1. 

"That call demoralized the team," said a 48th CES team member. "It took an inning to get our momentum back." 

With their morale high, 48th CS was able to score two more runs that inning bringing the score to 1-3. 

The 48th CES infield caught Luke Rials in a pickle between third and home before a fumbled catch allowed 48th CS to increase their lead to four. 

At the bottom of the inning, the 48th CES scored four runs and David Moats was able to score one more bringing the score to 6-4. 

Although bruised, 48th CS still had fight in them going into the fifth. Adrian Alcantara drove one to the fence batting in David Hart to score 48th CS's last run of the game, 48th CES leading 6-5. 

With momentum high, 48th CES took charge of the game scoring six more runs in the bottom of the fifth. 

After 48th CES's head coach Shaun Elliott ran one in, it was Chuck Hancuff's turn. Before going to bat he said, "Since we already have one on base I'll just hit a homer and end this." And he did, blasting one over the center field fence and taking home the championship under the 10-run rule, 48th CES won 15-5. 

"We knew what we needed to do and we did it and walked away with the championship," Coach Elliott said. "We played as a team and took it one play at a time."