Troops Compete on Softball Field

The members of the 203rd Forward Support Battalion softball team pose for a team photo prior to winning the Forward Operating Base Hammer softball championship Sept. 13.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq – Airman from the 557th Expeditionary Red Horse Squadron and Soldiers from the 203rd Brigade Support Battalion took time out of their busy schedules to play for the Forward Operating Base Hammer Softball Championship at Sledgehammer Field Sept. 13.

The 203rd BSB narrowly beat the 557th ERHS by a score of 23 to 21 in a close game.

Before the game, Soldiers of 203rd BSB were excited and motivated to win because of a friendly bet made between the two teams. According to the rules of the wager, the losing team would host a barbecue for the winning team and serve them at a location and time picked by the winning team.

“I’m excited about the game tonight,” said Master Sgt. Donnie DeVaughn, the non-commissioned officer in charge of support operations for the Headquarters Company of 203rd BSB, Laurinburg, N.C. “I’m looking forward to it. I can’t believe we have made it this far.”

The 557th ERHS held the lead early until the 203rd BSB took it away with a big rally in the 5th inning.

203rd BSB maintained their advantage for four more hotly contested innings to claim the championship.

“This game was a good competition,” said 1st Sgt. James Maye, Headquarters Company, from York, Ala. “It lifted Soldier’s morale and helped both units build espirit de corps. The Air Force was a well-organized team, but in the end the true victors were the Eagles. Now we are just waiting for our barbecue.”

The 203rd BSB is part of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga., and has been deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom since March.