MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA, Ariz. -- The Personnel Support Detachment team’s offense started hot and their defense finished hot as they dismantled the Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron Search and Rescue team 12-2 during intramural softball action April 10 at Field 555 here.
While the two teams entered the sixth round of the seven-round regular season with similar records, PSD was looking to position themselves for a post-season run.
“We wanted to boost our place in the standings so that we could get a favorable seeding in the post-season tournament,” said Ruben Sotelo, PSD coach. “There are a lot of good teams out here so we are trying to keep up with them.”
PSD received one such boost if they were hoping to match-up against H&HS SAR in the first round of the playoffs.
SAR, which finished one game behind PSD in the final standings, didn’t have too high of an opinion of their adversaries and credited their loss to bad play instead of PSD’s superior play.
“We got beat by a bunch of girl scouts,” said David Reese, SAR left centerfielder. “It was a pathetic loss. Our offense just didn’t show up and that’s what hurt us the most. There was no turning point in this game. We sucked from the beginning.”
Bernabe Montejano, PSD pitcher, saw things differently from his perspective on the mound.
“We won because our defense was great tonight,” said Montejano. “I was able to set the guys up with my pitching and they made some great plays.
“On offense it was an overall team effort,” he added. “We got the sticks moving and put some runs on the board. We got some momentum and batted through the lineup a couple times. We dominated from the start.”
PSD batted through their lineup four times in five innings, with all of their players stepping to the plate in the first inning at least once. Three players batted twice in the first inning.
Sotelo explained how important his team’s attitude was to their success.
“The key for us is usually to stay loose. Most players come out here and try to hit one over the fence, so I try to keep the guys joking around a lot yet focused on playing fundamental softball,” explained Sotelo. “We’re out here to have a good time. That’s what the sport is intended for. If we lose we just pack up our bags and come back next time. If we win, we go home feeling a little better.”
Not only did PSD walk away with the win, but they did it shorthanded.
“Tonight was a particularly good win because we only had nine players and we beat an H&HS team,” said Sotelo.
While Sotelo said it took all nine players playing together to win, one player stood above the rest.
“Our third basemen, (Bryan) Baker, was sucking up everything that was hit his way and making good throws,” said Sotelo.
Baker also led his team at the plate, hitting two for three with a double, triple and one walk.
As a team, SAR recorded two official hits.
When told of SAR’s girl scout trash talk, PSD just laughed it off.
“We beat them by 10 runs,” said Montejano,” “I can take their jokes.”