Deltas down Scrubs in playoff opener

By Russell Sellers, Army Flier Staff WriterAugust 18, 2011

Deltas down Scrubs in playoff opener
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Deltas down Scrubs in playoff opener
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FORT RUCKER, Ala., August 18, 2011 -- After a virtual stand-still in the opening innings, the Deltas from 1st Battalion, 13th Aviation Regiment gave the Physical Fitness Facility team a hard-hitting workout, winning a first-round intramural softball playoff game 10-4.

The two teams' outfields kept things in check by keeping the bats from being as effective as they tried to be.

Scrubs batted first and didn't manage to get more than a single run, which the Deltas quickly answered with one of its own in the following inning.

After an almost stand-still second inning save for one more Scrubs run, the Deltas finally found a way to get things going.

Harrison Cordell, Deltas pitcher, got a single that also resulted in one RBI with Steven Kerrigan, Deltas coach and third baseman, following up.

Those two managed to kick off a rally that resulted in the Deltas taking a commanding 8-2 lead.

Scrubs wasn't quite finished yet as it came back ready to play some offense in the next inning.

Unfortunately for the team, it wasn't going to be enough to take the lead back.

Emmanuel Stallworth, Scrubs outfielder, did manage to get a couple of solid hits and the team did score one more run, but its hopes of a potential rally were cut short due to the overly aggressive Deltas outfield and the accuracy of the team's infield throwing abilities.

The fourth inning saw the Deltas rally from the previous inning come to a crashing halt as Scrubs turned up the speed on its gloves.

Deltas only managed a single run during the inning with the rest of the lineup dropping quickly due to almost constant short fly balls.

Keeping the ball on the ground wasn't the problem for Scrubs during its next at-bat. The issues came from the Deltas' ability to cover almost the entire field without much struggle.

While Scrubs tacked on another run for the inning, that's all it managed to do before being shut down again. The Deltas were still up, 10-3.

While Scrubs couldn't get anything working on offense, it continued to dominate defensively throughout the rest of the game.

No matter how many times Deltas looked to extend its lead in the closing innings, it couldn't get any offensive strategy to work.

In the final inning, Scrubs did get some solid hitting in, but it wasn't enough to put it within striking distance of the huge deficit it cut for itself in the first half.

Kerrigan said his team has worked hard all season and was happy to walk away with a win in the first game of the playoffs.

"We got timely base hits and kept the gloves working," he said. "We've fallen apart before, but everything worked well today."

He continued by saying every team is "beatable" and that, despite taking a week off before coming to the first round of playoffs, Deltas planned to do just that.

Lori Ciranni, Scrubs coach, said she and her team came out to have a good time and they accomplished that, although she would have preferred a win.

"We gave them almost all of their runs," she said. "We just quit hitting the ball and made too many errors. We have to hit better and keep the errors in check."

She said the team will continue to work and get better with hopes of coming back in the double-elimination tournament.