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NCO tagged for softball honors

  • Published
A noncommissioned officer here recently got the chance to play for the All Air Force Softball team, was selected for the Armed Forces Softball Team, and was later named second-team All-America by the Amateur Softball Association.

Tech. Sgt. Timm Baldwin, adjutant, 93rd Air Refueling Squadron, was first selected to play left-center for the Air Force in 1999.

Since then, he has missed opening day only once because of a deployment.

This year, the Air Force camp started Aug. 17, and after just more than a week of tryouts, the 33 players were narrowed down to the 15 best.

"After tryouts, the team normally has about a week to practice together," he said. "Our training was delayed because of the hurricanes."

Still, the team came together for a winning season.

The Air Force team won the gold in the Armed Forces tournament. Only losing to the Army on their second night, the team swept the season with an 8-1 record.

"The [championship] tournament came down to the last night when we played the Army again," said Sergeant Baldwin.

This time triumphing over the Army, the Air Force was named the best in league.

"After the last game of the tournament, all the players from all the teams line up on the field for the Armed Forces team selections," he said. "Hearing my name called out in front of all my peers ... was one of the best feelings."

The Armed Forces team, made up of six Airmen, four Soldiers, three Sailors and two Marines, placed fifth out of more than 20 teams in the Men's Major Slow Pitch National Championships.

"We did exceptionally well for a team that only had two days to practice together before the tournament," he said.

And for their exceptional performance, they had the biggest crowd since 1997, when the team placed second in the tournament.

As if making the cut on the on the Armed Forces team wasn't enough, Sergeant Baldwin found out recently that he was named second-team All-America.

When asked if he would be attending next year, he said, "You bet I'll be there. It's an honor to be able to play for your service. I'll keep going until they won't let me play any more."

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