Team Mildenhall Men's Softball Team Wins Heidelberg Summer Slam Tournament

  • Published
  • By Lona Berndt
  • RAF Mildenhall Airman & Family Readiness Center
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  With an impressive display of skill and perseverance Team Mildenhall defeated Team Stuttgart to win the 16th annual Summer Slam Softball Tournament in Heidelberg, Germany, July 20 - 22.

Leading the way for the Marauders and securing Most Valuable Player honors was Adam Jessee who hit an impressive .800 for the tournament.

Being the only Air Force team in the tournament, RAF Mildenhall had to battle through several Army teams to win the 2007 Summer Slam championship title. The team started the tournament with a bang by crushing the host Heidelberg team 12-1.

Next up on RAF Mildenhall's road to success was Mannheim, which jumped out to an early lead and stayed ahead until the 7th inning.

Derek Bussard hit a dramatic walk-off homer against Manheim capping a 13-run 7th to win the game and keep Team Mildenhall alive. Outstanding performers included Adam Jessee, Tim Faircloth, and Dennis Schipper.

The last game of the day was against Shape out of Belgium. Jumping out to a 12-run lead in the first inning, Team Mildenhall punished Team Shape with a landslide win 21-8.

Sunday morning started off with Team Smashmouth - a mixed group of people from the Kaiserslautern community, most of whom are active duty Army - in the opposite dugout.

Earlier in the year the two faced one another on two separate occasions with Team Smashmouth taking both games.

Sunday's game was a game of offense with both teams scoring at will.

Going into the 6th inning Team Smashmouth trailed by a run but scored 13 runs but that lead was short lived. Showing the perseverance they demonstrated all tournament Team Mildenhall unleashed the hounds to score 19 of their own taking a seven-run lead.

Relief pitcher Keith Jordan came in to shut down Team Smashmouth in the bottom half of the 7th inning in order securing the 21-14 victory. Mildenhall conquered and won the game 21-14.

Next up was Team Stuttgart.

Team Stuttgart took the early lead and Team Mildenhall trailed by five runs. Team Mildenhall battled back to tie it up twice in different innings. Going into the top of the 5th Team Mildenhall trailed by five.

Mildenhall pieced together a string of hits and set the table to take the lead and end the inning up 3.

Stuttgart sent the heart of the batting order up in the bottom of the 7th. Fortunately, pitcher Keith Jordan retired all three batters in order.

In mid august Team Mildenhall will compete in the 2007 U.S. Air Forces in Europe tournament in Aviano, Italy.

Editor's note: For information on how to become a part of this exceptional team next year, please contact Coach Master Sgt. Dennis Schipper at 238-7720.