Double play secures championship for MSG Published Aug. 10, 2010 By Johnny Bustos 17th Force Support Squadron GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The 17th Mission Support Group Junk Yard Dogs' defense and bats were as hot as the 100 degree weather during the 2010 Intramural Softball Base Championship Double elimination tournament Aug. 4. The 17 MSG Junk Yard Dogs defeated the 315th Training Squadron Rattlers 15-12 in game 11 of the tournament, taking the championship. The Junk Yard Dogs finished the regular season 8 and 3 and in the third seat while the Rattlers went undefeated in the first seat for the tournament. During the playoffs, the Junk Yard Dogs pounded the 17th Training Support Squadron Tigers scoring 11 runs in the first inning and cruised to a 20-8 victory in their first game. In their second game, Junk Yard Dogs had to come from behind to defeat a gamey 312th Training Squadron Fire Dawgs 9-5. In the meantime, the Rattlers made quick work of the 1st Responders 20-5 setting up what would become a three-game series between the Junk Yard Dogs and Rattlers. In their first meeting, the Junk Yard Dogs quickly made six runs in the first inning and then another seven runs in the seventh inning to down the Rattlers 18-9, leading them into the championship game. In the Rattlers' second faceoff with the Fire Dawgs during the tournament, the Rattlers scored four runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings, eliminating the Fire Dawgs, 15-9, from the tournament and setting a rematch against the Junk Yard Dogs. Junk Yard Dawgs took little time in the championship game to score four runs in the top of the first, but the Rattlers responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. The game remained a one-run affair until the Rattlers' got hot in the bottom of the fifth and six innings and scored nine runs taking a 13-9 victory. Both teams were poised for a winner-take-all game for the final match during the doubleheaders. The Junk Yard Dogs took the early lead against the Rattlers, 11-3. At the bottom of the fourth, the Rattlers scored eight unanswered runs to tie the game at 11. In the next three innings, the Junk Yard Dogs batted in four runs, taking a 15-12 lead into the bottom of the seventh. The Rattlers had one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh when their fifth batter hit a hard ground ball down the third base line. Junk Yard Dogs third baseman James Fountain scooped the ball, tagged the bag and threw to second baseman Santos Pena for a double play securing 2010 Base Championship for the Junk Yard Dogs.
