Armed Forces Women Win 2005 National Softball Championship

The Armed Forces won the 2005 Amateur Softball Association's Women's
National Open Championship, 16-18 September, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
The team faced the Yard Dawgs of Calhoun, Georgia, the Eastern Division
Champion's, in a best of five championship series.

The Armed Forces team started with four quick runs in the tournament
opener. Technical Sergeant Karrie Warren (Tyndall Air Force Base) opened
the first inning with a single, followed by Army Sergeant Tammy
Baldwin's (Fort Riley, Kansas) single. JO3 Erika Mater (Navy, Souda Bay,
Crete) drove in both runners with a powerful right field double, before
Private Jackie Dixon (Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton) drove in Mater
with a single. Staff Sergeant Jamie Thompson of Misawa Air Base, Japan,
closed out the inning by driving in Dixon with her timely single.
Warren, Senior Master Sergeant Cheryl Trapnell's (RAF Mildenhall), and
Mater's RBI all singled to start off a second inning six-run rally.
Technical Sergeant Kischa Scott-McCloud's (Little Rock Air Force Base)
closed out the rally with a key two-run single. The team added two more
runs in the third and four in the fourth, beating the Yard Dawgs 16-2 in
a five innings. Warren, Baldwin and Mater each had three hits in four
at-bats. Baldwin had three runs-batted-in (RBI's) and two doubles, while
Mater had two RBI's on a double and a triple. Sergeant Jackeedra Wimbley
(Walter Reed Army Medical Center) had a double and a single, as well as
matching Jackie Dixon's three RBI's.

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The Armed Force team fell behind for the first time in the tournament in
their second game. The Yard Dawgs scored three runs in the top of the
second inning, only to watch the Armed Forces team score seven runs in
the bottom of the inning. Thompson ignited the Armed Forces' rally with
an opening single, which Wimbley followed with an RBI double. Technical
Sergeant Laurie Doughty then drove in Wimbley with a single. Senior
Airman Kristy Robinson (Eglin Air Force Base) hit a single, before
Warren drove in Wimbley and Robinson with a triple. Trapell drove Warren
in with a single, while Baldwin drove in Trapnell with her second double
of the tournament. The Armed Forces team added seven more runs in the
third. Thompson again started the rally with a single. Army Sergeant
Niki Dunn (Fort Drum, New York) drew a walk, and Senior Airman Schameka
White (Robins Air Force Base) loaded the bases with her single. Robinson
drove a run with a single and Warren's single drove in another.
Trapnell's fielder's choice added one more run, before Baldwin's triple
cleared the bases. Mater doubled Baldwin in and scored a second later on
Dixon's RBI double. The Yard Dawgs came up with five runs in the top of
the fourth inning, however the Armed Forces' strong defense closed them
down for the remainder of the game, with the final score 14-8.

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The Armed Forces needed only one victory to claim the national
championship. The team opened the third game with three quick runs.
Trapnell led off with a single, and advanced to second on Baldwin's
single. Mater drove both runners home with a double, and scored on
Dunn's single. The Yard Dawgs scored two runs in the bottom of the
first, however the Armed Forces Team scored two more runs in the second
behind four consecutive single from Doughty, Specialist Shannon
Eichenseer (Army, Camp Long, Korea), Warren, and Baldwin. The Armed
Forces team added three more runs in the fourth off singles by White,
Doughty, and Lance Corporal Brook Snell (Marine Corps, Iwaknui, Japan),
Eichenseer's RBI double and Trapnell's sacrifice fly. The Yard Dawgs
made it 8-4 with two runs in the bottom of the fourth before Dunn closed
out the scoring for the Armed Forces Team, scoring on White's sacrifice
fly after her lead-off triple. The Yard Dawgs scored again, making it
9-5. Pitcher Laurie Doughty, in addition to batting three-for-three in
this game, squelched a pending rally in the sixth when she snagged a
hard line drive up the middle, and closed out the game when she caught a
shoe level line drive for the final out in the seventh inning.

Tammy Baldwin was named the Most Valuable player of the Tournament.