5th MAINT/29th SG slides by LRMC, 8-7 – Captures unit level softball championship

Leonard Ingram
Contributing writer


***image1***The 5th Maintenance/29th Support Group squeaked by Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, 8-7, in the 415th Base Support Battalion’s Unit Level Softball Championships held July 22 at the Rhine Ordnance Barracks’ softball fields.
The 415th BSB garnered third place.
The first inning saw 5th MAINT/29th SG take 3-2 lead off of the great hitting by Donald Stokes and David Lanter. The score stayed at 3-2 until the third inning.
Thomas Daly and David Lanter both hit singles. Next up to bat for 5th MAINT/29th SG was Stokes, who hit an inside pitch high over the center field fence for one of his two home runs of the game, scoring three runs, to give 5th MAINT/29th SG a 6-4 lead.
LRMC came back in the fifth inning to score two runs, but 5th MAINT/29th SG answered back with two more runs to make it 8-6. LRMC got only one more run in the last two innings.
The 5th MAINT/29th SG held LRMC off to win a close one, 8-7; earning the title as the 2004, 415th BSB Intramural Softball Champions.
The 415th BSB Sports Intramural Softball Championship was held July 19 to 22 at the ROB softball fields. Tournament action saw the top three teams from each division, East and West, battle it out on the diamond at the Rhine Ordnance Barracks Softball Field.
Opening day saw the Eastern Division teams send two of the Western Division teams, 236th Medical and 23rd/191st Ordnance, to the loser’s bracket in two close games.
Headquarters, Head-quarters Company 21st Theater Support Com-mand beat 23rd /191st ORD, 13-6.
The 415th BSB beat 236th MED by four runs, 11-7. The only west team to record a win on opening day was LRMC, first in west, with a 12-6 win over HHC 21st TSC.
The second day saw two teams eliminated from the tournament; HHC 21st TSC sent 236th MED packing with an 18-9 win. The next game was not decided until the 7th inning; 415th BSB came back from two down to beat 23rd/191st ORD by one, 8-7. The last game of the night saw 5th MAINT/29th SG just get pass 415th BSB, 8-6.
Tournament action started on day three with the final four teams – 5th MAINT/29th SG, LRMC, HHC 21st TSC and 415th BSB.
The first game of the night went down to the wire, with 415th BSB just getting passed HHC 21st TSC with a 10-9 win in the seventh inning. The loss sent HHC 21st TSC home early.
The next game was a preview to the championship game, with 5th MAINT/29th SG taking on LRMC in the semifinal game. LRMC went into the fifth inning leading 12-3, but 5th MAINT/29th SG bats came alive for nine runs lead by Stokes with four runs batted in, to get out of the inning leading, 14-12. LRMC could not put up anymore runs and lost 14-12.
Next for the LRMC was 415th BSB. The 415th BSB ran out of hitting power, and LRMC posted an easy win with a score of 10-5.