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Surprises made for an interesting intramural softball playoff season

  • Published
  • By Brandice J. Armstrong
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  The military intramural softball season drew to a close Aug. 30, but it was not as cut-and-dry as one might expect. There were several times through the playoffs, in which an underdog team beat out the big dog, moving one spot closer to the championship.

Among the biggest surprise was when the Med Group made it to the championship. With a win-loss record of 8-4 heading into the playoffs, they were up against the Thumpers, who had a perfect season with 14 wins.

"The brackets are true to how the teams performed during the season," said Pat Griffin, Tinker intramural sports director. "There were a few teams who dropped during the league, giving one of the teams a berth that they would not normally have received."

The playoffs were organized into two brackets -- winners and losers. Initially, teams began in the "winners" bracket. If they lost, they moved to the "losers" bracket, where they had at least one more chance to win. If they won, they continued on. If they lost, their season ended. The playoffs continued until there was one winner in each bracket. The two winners competed for the championship.

While some teams -- Thumpers, 327th ACSG, Okies, 72nd OSS and 964th AACS -- were obvious choices to advance forward, others were surprises.

In the first playoff round, 552nd AMXS knocked 72nd OSS into the losers' bracket. Going into playoffs, AMXS had a 9-7 record; OSS had a near-perfect 13-1 record. Then, 31st CCS (3-9) beat out 964th AACS (13-3), knocking them into the losers' bracket.

In the first round of the losers' bracket, Triple 6-0 (4-8) beat the 552nd TRS (9-7) ending their season. Triple 6-0 forfeited their next game, allowing Med Group to advance. AGE Generators (7-7) also trounced on AACS.

Although the surprises were lessened, they still happened. In round two of the winners' bracket, AMXS knocked out 3rd CCG and their 11-3 record.

But, the CCG got their chance to rise again, like a phoenix rising from the ashes. In the third round of the losers' bracket, CCG trumped the 327th ACSG and their (13-1) record.

"CCG is a small unit and for them to get beat by a team like AMXS in the top half of the bracket, then win every game in the loser's bracket to meet up with one of the Navy teams is a feather in their caps," Griffin said.

Also in the third round of the losers' bracket, the Med Group played OSS. And, despite Mike McCabe, of the Medics, being OSS Brent Nichols teammate during the varsity softball season, during that game, they were opponents. The game favored OSS, but it was Med Group who triumphed, giving a taste of what was to come.