Brian Hamm, head coach of the 2nd Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, Rock Force softball team, said Thursday’s 17-6 win in the Commander’s Cup postseason softball semifinals against the 192nd Infantry Brigade reflected several traits of the way Rock Force has been winning all season. Slow starts are usually followed by two or three innings of explosive offense. And just as it happened in the top of the third inning, with Rock Force and the 192nd Inf. Bde. tied 1-1, rallies usually begin with two outs. “We’ve rallied with two outs almost every time this season,” Hamm said.
The six-run third-inning rally began with an RBI double by Lerrone Jenkins, followed by a two-run double by Stephen Daggett and capped off by a two-run double by Richard Toms.
Toms said the momentum swung Rock Force’s way after it halted a scoring threat in the bottom of the second inning by the 192nd Inf. Bde., by throwing a runner out at home plate to end the inning.
“Whenever you get a play at the plate, it gets you going,” Toms said. “Obviously it showed the rest of the game.”
Toms had a two-run, inside-the-park home run in the fifth inning and Rock Force added six more runs in the sixth inning.
The game was called in the bottom of the sixth inning because the one-hour time limit had been reached.
Though down by 15 runs, the 192nd Inf. Bde., didn’t give up and scored four runs by capitalizing off of fielding errors made by Rock Force.
Hamm said those kind of defensive spells have also characterized Rock Force’s season, but they haven’t cost Rock Force any games.
“We can’t let a bad play ruin an inning,” Hamm said. “We had a couple of bad plays. But it’s bad plays versus bad innings. We’ve been able to make good out of bad.”
Outside the need for defensive improvement, Hamm said his team only needs to keep playing the way it’s played all season to win Tuesday’s championship game. Rock Force was scheduled to face the winner of the loser’s bracket final between the 192nd Inf. Bde. and Conus Replacement Center.
“It’s fortunate we have this much talent within one battalion,” he said. “A lot of teams have holes, but we don’t.”
Results of Tuesday’s title game were not available at press time.
