Moody takes swing at USSSA military softball title

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jarrod Grammel
  • 23d Wing Public Affairs
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. --  Thirteen members of the Moody Air Force Base, Ga., Flying Tigers softball team competed in the 2014 United States Specialty Sports Association Military World's tournament in Panama City Beach, Fla., Aug. 14 to 17.

The Flying Tigers competed in the varsity B bracket with 31 other teams all playing for the title of best military softball team in the Department of Defense (DoD).

Although they finished with two wins and two losses, both losses were close with a first game loss by one run, and a loss for their last game by three runs.

"This is kind of like the season-ending tournament," said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Chris Jones, 23d Mission Support Group deputy commander and team coach. "All the games and tournaments we played throughout the year all culminated in this tournament to crown the best military team in DoD, so all of our practicing went to the expectation that we would compete in the tournament and do well."

The Flying Tigers' confidence going into this tournament was partly due to the momentum they gained from a third place finish in the South Georgia state tournament, said Jones.

Larry McEntire, a contractor working at Moody and team veteran, agreed with Jones, adding that the team started getting better by practicing and coming together.

"To be honest, when we first started the season, we didn't fare too well," said McEntire. "We had a couple tournaments that were pretty shaky. The common thing was they were normally double-elimination tournaments, and we would lose our first two games and be out of the tournament. But we started getting better, practicing and came together as a team."

Among veterans like McEntire were brand new players who had never played competitive softball before trying out for the base team.

"There were a couple of players we had on the team that this was their first year playing softball," said Jones. " ... So it was a good experience for them and seeing what competitive softball is all about. That's part of the piece that this is a very young team that has a bright future. We have all these young folks on the team, if you want to call them rookies, who grew up quite a bit during that last tournament."

With the addition of new players, McEntire said team chemistry is vital, noting it was a common trait among the top teams in the tournament.

"The team was building ... this year," said Jones. "So getting that chemistry is very important for a team to start to come together and play together. Going into this military world's tournament, we had some high expectations that we would do well because we were on a winning streak and starting to get our stride.

"The best part of the event honestly was the chemistry the team started to show," he added. "We really started to come together, started to cheer for each other, started to motivate each other ... I think coming out of the tournament, we all realized that it was a building year, but we also realized that we were competitive. We didn't get blown out by any of the teams. Both of our losses were by a narrow margin."

Another one of the highlights for Jones was a comeback during their third game.

"We were down by a few runs, and [Master Sgt.] Chris Souza from the 822nd [Base Defense Squadron] hit two home runs that game, and really was the deciding factor in that game," said Jones. "We were the visiting team. He hit two home runs, put us ahead in the game, and we ended up winning by a couple of runs."

Along with Souza, whose batting average was .571 and hit three homeruns during the tournament, two other players from the 822nd BDS distinguished themselves as top batters. Going into the season, Senior Airman Mark Melchiori, who hit .625, had already demonstrated his batting ability when he hit three homeruns out of five swings during a base homerun derby. Second Lt. Mike Root had a batting average of .625 and hit two homeruns throughout the tournament.

Jones added that he is proud of their performance in representing Moody.

McEntire, who has competed in 15 of these tournaments at multiple bases, added that it's a chance to represent your team, base and branch of service while competing against teams throughout the entire DoD.

After this year's season, Jones will be retiring from the base team to hand over the reins as coach to the veteran McEntire. Both said the team has plans to compete in the tournament again next year.

"We're really excited for next year," said McEntire. "It was a great building block to build off of, and we're looking forward to carrying it on in the future."