Softball tournament a morale home run

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Bonnie Grantham
  • 319th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
DEVILS LAKE, N.D. --  Airmen from Grand Forks and Minot Air Force Bases took a day off from regular duties to build camaraderie and morale through a softball tournament May 21, 2015 at Roosevelt Park here.

Senior Master Sgt. Justin Deisch, 705th Munitions Squadron material flight chief at Minot AFB, said the softball game had been in the works since October 2014.

"Last year when I was the Minot Top 3 president, I reached out to the Grand Forks Top 3 president and made the statement that we had the best Airmen at Minot," he said. "The nice lady from Grand Forks begged to differ, so I said 'let's prove it on the field of battle.' We decided softball was the proper way to finally decide, at least for 2015, which base had the best Airmen."

Deisch coordinated with Airmen and leadership from Grand Forks AFB as well as the Devils Lake chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, who cooked breakfast and lunch for the Airmen at the tournament. The plan for the event was officially pitched to the Airmen Appreciation Committee on Grand Forks AFB in March 2015.

"[Deisch] came down from Minot to Grand Forks in March and pitched the idea of having a softball game at Devils Lake," said Master Sgt. Byron Ball, 319th Civil Engineer Squadron assistant chief of training for the GFAFB Fire Department.

Ball was put in charge of the tournament, although he knows nothing about softball, he said. However, he does know about something else.

"I'm all about taking care of Airmen, so this was right up my alley," he said. 

Two Airmen who played and were spectators enjoyed the event.

"I had a blast. It was a lot of fun," said 2nd Lt. Kylee Ashton, 5th Bomb Wing public affairs officer. "It was great getting to see Airmen and just getting be a person with Airmen."

The games were set up as females against females on one field and males against males on the other.

Although the Minot female team won their game, the Grand Forks males won both of their games giving Grand Forks AFB the champion title for the tournament.

Despite the air of competition, the two bases also cooperated in unexpected ways.

"One of the coed teams for Grand Forks did not have enough females, so we had to borrow extra players that Minot brought," said Tech. Sgt. Douglas Wolf, 319th Comptroller Squadron quality assurance manager. "I know this was not the original intent of the games, but I think this was a great idea because it brought us together as one team. It is good to know that Grand Forks started out strong and brought the trophy home where it belongs. This just means Minot will need to come out strong next year to try and take it from us."

Despite the distance between the bases, the event was a success, leaving the coordinators feeling satisfied.

"I'm overjoyed. Everything has been amazing," said Deisch. "The games have been really competitive and everybody's just been having a good day."

Deisch and Ball both hope the tournament becomes an annual tradition between the bases to build a friendly rivalry.

"We're using a kind of new concept to really ignite a rivalry that has existed between these two air force bases since 1960," said Deisch.

"When you start these rivalries, it [becomes] something to look forward to every year," said Ball. "If we do bring home the trophy, now they have to take it from us. Every year this will be something to get us through those nine months of winter."

At the end of the day, Ball and Deisch gave a round of thanks to everyone involved in planning the event.

"I just want to say thanks to the wing commander at the 319th Air Base Wing and also the 5th Bomb Wing and 91st Missile Wing. Thank you for authorizing this as an alternative duty location," said Deisch. "And do the three command chiefs that have offered their mentorship and guidance putting this even together, huge kudos to them for helping us out and allowing us to get out here and have a good time."

"Thank you to Senior Master Sgt. Deisch for allowing us to come together," said Ball. "It's great when you have an Airman that's willing to drive through the snow - because it was snowing during March - to come down to Grand Forks to talk to other Airmen to pitch his idea about Airmen coming together at a location and having a great time. So I just want to say thank you to him and the people at Minot for coming out."