3rd Radio Battalion beat the Provost Marshal's Office Law Dawgs in the quarter finals of the 2008 Intramural Softball League playoffs 11-5, at Annex Field Aug. 14.
With massive bats and superb fielding, 3rd Radio Battalion took control of the game in the second inning showing no mercy once they gained the lead.
“This is our first game of the playoffs and we’ve been off for awhile, so we’re probably going to be a little rusty when we get out there,” said Chris Margoupis, 3rd Radio Battalion’s head coach, before the game. “We just have to get out there and hit and make sure we play a tough defense.”
First to bat, the Law Dawgs came out swinging, smashing infield grounders and low fly-balls, but it wasn’t enough to get past 3rd Radio Battalion’s defense to score.
Law Dawgs took the field, with a chance to fight back and expose their defense against 3rd Radio Battalion’s batters. But as the balls went flying, runners stacked the bases bringing in three runs before their third out.
The Law Dawgs answered back with three runs of their own in the second inning, evening the score 3-3 and giving the game the appearance of a close match.
Seeing what they were up against, 3rd Radio Battalion brought out their big bats, knocking line drives through the infield and more low-fly balls, landing short of the outfielders.
Gaining bases and RBIs, 3rd Radio Battalion went on a five-run streak before the Law Dawgs put an end to their hitting, making the score 8-3, with 3rd Radio Battalion leading.
In the top of the third inning, Law Dawgs brought in one run before taking the field again and letting 3rd Radio Battalion score again in the bottom of the inning.
Coming up big in the third inning, Kyle Houston, 3rd Radio Battalion’s shortstop, hit the only homerun of the game, scoring two other runs, raising their lead to 11-4.
Winding down in the fourth inning, the Law Dawgs put one more point on the board and shut 3rd Radio Battalion down during their next turn up to bat.
Unable to get anything past 3rd Radio Battalion in the fifth inning, the game looked grim for the Law Dawgs. Coming into the sixth and final inning of the game, the Law Dawgs had one last shot to make a comeback.
To the Law Dawgs demise, 3rd Radio Battalion wasn’t budging and only allowed one run to score before winning the game 11-5.
“We just didn’t hit,” said Phillip Frazier, Law Dawgs’ head coach. “If we would have hit with them, I think we would have done a lot better. But, they hit the ball and we didn’t.”
Frazier said with the Law Dawgs out of the playoffs, they’ll be preparing for next season.
On the winning side, 3rd Radio Battalion celebrated a victory in the dugout and became one step closer to the championship game.
“We got out there in the lead and played pretty good defense,” Margoupis said after the game. “We could do better though.”
3rd Radio Battalion will be playing Marine Air Logistics Squadron 24 “Rollins” in the semifinals, scheduled to play at Annex Field Aug. 18.