Thumpers thump Okies in double header rout

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Mark Hybers
  • 507th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  The Okies and Thumpers took their softball rivalry to the field for the 94th and 95th time since 2001 Thursday Aug. 14 with the Thumpers winning both games handily.

The team from the 513th Air Control Group jumped out to an early 16-0 lead in the top of the first inning. The 507th Air Refueling Wing Okies got right back in the game, scoring 12 of their own in the bottom half of the first frame.

The Thumpers put the game away for good with 14 in the third en route to a 32-14 victory. According to Master Sgt. Joseph Brown, Thumpers coach, both teams played well.

"The first game was close for a while, each team scoring a lot of runs," Brown said. "We are just fortunate to have a lot of returning players who have played together for a very long time. That consistency has helped us a lot this year."

Game two of the twin bill was also a lopsided affair in favor of the Thumpers. After losing 17-3 Okies interim coach, Senior Master Sgt. Richard Stull said they were just beaten by a better team.

"Simply put, we played poorly against a very good team," he said.

The 3-7 Okies played their final games last week and were officially eliminated from the playoffs while the Thumpers at 9-1 play the 137 ARW in the first round.

With playoffs starting next week and the Okies likely sitting it out this year, Stull said they need to go out and have some fun and try not to take it too seriously.

"We just needed to pick our chins up and get back out there and finish the season," Stull said.

The Okies/Thumpers rivalry dates back to 2001 with 95 games now in the books. The Thumpers have a slight 51-44 edge in the series, winning by an average score of 13.9 to 13.3.