Fort Hood Sentinel (Fort Hood, Tex.), Vol. 71, No. 30, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 1, 2013 Page: 28 of 34
thirty four pages : ill.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
SPORTS
www.FortHoodSentinel.com
D4
August 1, 2013
Strength in Unity: Ironhorse receives the Army Marathon trophy
- Ed Bandas
55
i
k
A
Jr
in
Continued from DI
31
11
going to
1
1
T?
ball
runner
((
i --
i
i
I am proud to be here with our team ... to
present the ‘Strength in Unity Trophy’ to (the
Ironhorse Brigade), to keep proudly.
712th ASOS hitter Alex Castillo keeps his eye on the ball during a swing in the
championship game Monday at Rodney Evans Softball Complex. As winners of
the West Division, 712th ASOS advanced to the finals to face the winners of the
East Division - 720th MP Bn. - but were shutout 10-0 in the final game.
Photos by Daniel Cernero, Sentinel Sports Editor
ABOVE, 720th MP Bn. center fielder Tommy Daugherty slides to make a catch in the first inning of the championship game
Monday at Rodney Evans Softball Complex. Exceptional defense, combined with timely hitting, helped the MPs to a 10-0
victory over the 712th ASOS. INSET, 720th MP Bn. base runner Steve Blackshear heads into third base with a triple in the
third inning of the championship game Monday.
Unit Team Champion
1st Brigade Combat Team
1st Cavalry Division
The Inaugural. Ir/wr Marathon
21 April, 2012
r'l
7
wg
i
going to catch it /
h
BY SGT. BAILEY KRAMER
1st BCT Public Affairs, 1st Cav. Div.
Photos by Staff Sgt. John Couffer, 1st BCT Public Affairs, 1st Cav. Div.
Ed Bandas (center), a coordinator for The Army Marathon, presents the
Strength through Unity Trophy to Col. Steve Gilland (left) and Command Sgt.
Maj. Mervyn Ripley (right), command team for the 1st “Ironhorse” BCT, 1st
Cav. Div. July 18 at the Ironhorse Chapel on Fort Hood. The Army Marathon had
more than 1,000 runners, but the 1st “Ironhorse” BCT, 1st Cav. Div., received
the lowest collective score of 399, earning them the first-place military unit
award.
■ i
I- ^11 *
X
Ss
I*
The 1st “Ironhorse” Brigade
Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Divi-
sion received the Army Marathon
military unit award July 18 at the
Ironhorse Chapel.
Taking the top four runners from
each unit, the Ironhorse Brigade
received the lowest collective score
of 399, earning them the first place
military unit award out of more
than 1,000 runners.
“It feels great to have helped
my brigade place so well,” said
Spc. Jorge Hernandez, the Iron-
horse first-place finisher assigned
to Forward Support Company E
of the 2nd “Stallion” Battalion, 8th
Cavalry Regiment.
The Army Marathon organiza-
tion began long before the first
Army Marathon was conducted. It
was observed that veterans were
returning from deployments with a
wide variety of challenges and not
enough resources to support their
needs.
Four retired service members -
Richard Archer, Gene Deutscher,
Jay Taggart, and Ed Bandas - were
"4^1
IS
looking to make a difference and
decided to come up with a plan to
raise funds and awareness, fill in the
gaps of veterans services and high-
light the sacrifices of our service
members.
“Sometimes our service men and
women need a little more help
than current programs allow,”
explained Bandas, a coordinator for
Softball: 720th MPs mercy rule 712th ASOS
Army vs Air Force championship contest
the
secured, and base
Lineker
' Valladares inching off
of second base antici-
pating the ball to drop,
Daugherty showed off his
arm by gunning the ball to
second base in time to force
out Valladares.
“I’ve always taught myself that
as soon as you dive, if someone’s
on base, you better jump up. I did,
and I noticed he was two steps off
of second, so I threw him out,”
tiebreaking at-bat, Jamie Ruiz’s RBI
single to shallow left field capped off
a 10-0 blowout, ended in the fifth
inning due to the mercy rule.
“That’s softball,” 712th ASOS
third baseman Travis Crosby said
after the game. “Sometimes you show
up and you blast a team, beating
them 25-0 and everyone is hitting.
And the next game, you just can’t do
anything about it.”
Batting with the bases loaded and
one out, needing only one run to
score to end the game, Ruiz made
contact off the end of his bat, sending
the ball in the air down the third-base
line into shallow left field. Crosby,
having a read on the ball, made a
quick 180 and tried to track the ball
over his shoulder.
Off his glove, and then nearly off
his opposite hand that swung by in
desperation, the ball dropped to the
ground, allowing the runner on third
- the MP’s Steve Blackshear - to trot
on home.
“I was running too far out
to throw it home, so I was
trying to flip it to the left
fielder,” Crosby said. “I
was
and flip it to him,
but then I missed
• ”
It.
Crosby related
that it’s one of the
toughest kinds of
catches to make as
a fielder.
“It’s right over you, so
you can’t get an angle on
it so you’re just running
trying to look up,” he
said. “For guys that play
football, it’s the same
as someone throwing it
straight over your head.
It’s hard, very hard.”
In the bottom of the sec-
ond inning, the MP’s Eduardo
Bonilla broke the game open
with a bases-clearing double,
driving in three runs and bring-
ing the score to 4-0.
for qualified veteran charities. Rais-
ing about $25,000, Bandas believes
their goal was reached.
“For being the first year, that is
really good, and it can only con-
tinue to grow,” Bandas added.
The marathon will be held annu-
ally in Killeen on the first Sunday
in March.
“I am proud our brigade fin-
ished so well,” Hernandez said. “It
feels good to have accomplished so
much.”
The Army Marathon. “Our mission
is to augment those efforts while
creating an honored tradition, an
atmosphere of athletic achievement
and competition and at the same
time allowing our communities that
surround Fort Hood to honor these
heroes as well.”
The first Army Marathon took
place April 21 in honor of the
238th anniversary of‘the shot heard
around the world,’ which was the
beginning of the American Revolu-
tion, April 19, 1775.
The 26.2-mile course began in
Killeen, running through Harker
Heights, Nolanville, Belton and
ending in Temple.
“I am proud to be here with our
team ... to present the ‘Strength in
Unity Trophy’ to (the Ironhorse
Brigade), to keep proudly,” Bandas
stated during the ceremony. “Also,
knowing it will be the only trophy
that ever bears the words ‘Inaugural
Army Marathon.”
The trophy is named ‘Strength in
Unity’ after Aesop’s Fables classic
tale of “The Bundle of Sticks.”
The tale explains how a father
calls his sons to his deathbed and
hands his oldest a bundle of sticks.
He asks him to break them; he
was unsuccessful. The father then
unbundles the sticks and hands one
to each son, asking them to break
r
“I just wanted to put it in the hole,
put the ball in play,” Bonilla said of
his approach during the at-bat.
Making solid contact, Bonilla said
it felt good coming off of his bat, but
he feared it was that it was going to
get caught. The ball eluded 712th
ASOS outfielders and allowed all of
the base runners to score.
Defense played a clear role in the
MP’s victory as both the infield-
ers and outfielders chipped in to
keep 712th ASOS off the scoreboard.
Whether it was a nifty tag out on the
base paths or a diving catch in the
outfield, 720th MP Bn. took pride in
its shutout.
Outfielder Tommy Daugherty
made his defensive presence known
on two separate occasions in the
championship game. After making
a sliding catch in the first inning,
Daugherty followed up with a diving
catch in the third inning off of a line
drive hit by 712th’s Kyle
Tart.
“The ball was float-
ing coming to me,
and it started to
die,” Daugherty
» said. “When
the wind
picked up, it
started tak-
ing a nose
dive. I just
■F thought,
‘Champion-
ship game, got
to sell out.’ So I
sold out.
With
L '
fl
I 1
I
Daugherty said. “It felt great.”
712th ASOS reached base safely in
each of the five innings, but its 8 hits
couldn’t hold up to the MP’s 18.
“Guys were hitting it, but we were
just hitting it right at people,” Crosby
said, taking nothing away from the
opposing team.
“Their pitcher was good - he made
it hard for us to hit,” he added.
“You could tell he was an experienced
pitcher. He knew where to put it - he
could throw a strike when he wanted
to and not when he didn’t want to.”
Confident they were a solid team
that could win a championship,
Daugherty still came away a little
surprised of the outcome.
“10-0, I thought it was
be a closer game,” he said, “but the
defense was on.”
> ft
I /
The 1st “Ironhorse” Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division received The
Army Marathon military unit award, July 18 at Fort Hood in the Ironhorse Cha-
pel. The first Army Marathon took place Sunday, April 21 in honor of the 238th
anniversary of the ‘shot heard around the world,’ the beginning of the American
Revolution, April 19,1775.
it, of course, they were easily bro-
ken.
“His wise counsel to his sons was,
‘There is strength in unity,’ sug-
gesting his sons should forever stick
together and protect each other
as brothers,” Bandas said. “How
appropriate for our military folks
that this trophy should embody the
lesson we have all learned during
our service to our country.”
Bandas explained the purpose of
the marathon was to raise money
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Larsen, Dave. Fort Hood Sentinel (Fort Hood, Tex.), Vol. 71, No. 30, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 1, 2013, newspaper, August 1, 2013; Fort Hood, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1205020/m1/28/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Casey Memorial Library.