TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- The perennially powerful Swingers bowed out of intramural softball for good Aug. 17 with a perfect “10” performance – their 10th base championship.
The Swingers fought back out of the losers bracket, beating Davy Jones twice, to emerge as the 2017 Intramural Softball League champions.
Longtime coach Robert Mahan said the team won’t take the field next season and players will split off to other teams or retire.
“My wife said I’m done,” Mahan quipped. “No more Swingers. That’s it.”
The Swingers exit with a 235-16 record over 13 years, he said.
The team’s final tournament challenge was a worthy one vying against Davy Jones. They’re also reliable winners, but traditionally change their team’s name each season. Last year, they were Center Mass and snared the base championship against the Swingers.
A third-inning scoring rally was the key to victory in the seven-inning contest. Behind 3-5, a drumbeat of small Swingers hits led to a run of RBIs and set up loaded bases. A Glen Kierstead single fueled the last two RBIs for an inning lead of 9-5.
Scoring imploded for both teams in the next four innings. They added only one run each until the final inning. Swingers prevailed 10-6.
Mahan said the relatively close game was tough.
“Man, we were sweating,” he said. “We were running out of players. They were all hurt.”
The Swingers struggled with Davy Jones all season, he said. “These guys just kept fighting every night.”
Davy Jones coach Joe Sanchez said the tournament finals featured two great teams.
“We ran out of energy as far as runs, so I guess we scored all of our runs yesterday,” he joked. “We didn’t have enough pop. In order to beat these guys, sometimes you’ve got to score 20 runs or so, but we held them in check for a while. Good defense and offense by both teams.”