Tinker Rangers take third at tournament

Published Sept. 21, 2007
By John E. Banks
Tinker Public Affairs

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE -- The Tinker Rangers traveled to Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Sept. 9-11 to participate in the 2007 U.S. Air Force Baseball tournament.
   Though only nine players made the trip, the team was confident about their chances against squads from Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz.; Andrews AFB, Md. and Luke AFB, Ariz.
   The Rangers got off to a slow start with an opening round 14-6 loss to Davis-Monthan. The team, tired and sluggish from the long drive, was only able to generate six hits. Mike Nickell, the offensive star for the Rangers, went 3-for-4 with two home runs and a single and drove in all six runs.
   "We did not generate enough offense, except for Mike, and had way too many errors on the defensive side," said Stephen Escalante, Rangers head coach.
   In second game, the Rangers defeated the squad from Andrews 14-5. Nickell led the Rangers offense, going 2-for-3 with two doubles, a stolen base and an RBI. Ranger's pitcher James Campbell allowed six hits and three runs over seven innings.
   "Our key was Campbell's dominating pitching today," Escalante said. "He definitely gave us a lift with his superb pitching."
   In the third game of the tournament, the Rangers fell 12-10 to Luke. The Rangers couldn't muster up the defense and pitching to stop their opponent.
   "We were a little short in this one," Escalante said, "but we will try and redeem ourselves in the double elimination, round-robin-round."
   The Rangers got another solid pitching performance from Campbell en-route to a 4-2 victory over Luke in game number four.
   "We really pulled together in this game and we finally put all the faces of the game together," Escalante said. "We had timely hitting, great defense and great pitching today."
   On the last day of the tournament the Rangers needed two victories to gain the top prize. However, they were defeated 5-3 by Davis-Monthan in the third place game.
   Nickell again was the hitting star for the Rangers. He went 3-for-3 with a home run, two doubles and three RBIs.
   Nickell was unanimously selected to the all-tournament team by the coaches from the different clubs. He finished the tournament hitting 10-for-12 with four home runs; four doubles and a tournament best 13 RBIs.
   "Mike's performance was awesome," Escalante said. "He showed great power and led us in all offensive categories. His performance definitely led us to our third-place finish."