Cheryl Trapnell once again lived up to her title of “grande dame” of All-Air Force softball: She sparked the rally that helped the airmen regain the All-Armed Forces women’s softball title they won in 2002-03 but lost last year.

Army led 13-12 entering the bottom of the sixth inning in the championship game at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., on Friday night. But Trapnell’s single ignited a string of base hits and an eight-run uprising that propelled Air Force to a 20-15 victory, giving the airmen the championship.

“Trap, our sparkplug, she started it all,” said assistant coach Danny Acosta of Kwangju Air Base, South Korea. Trapnell, of RAF Mildenhall, England, was playing on her 16th All-Armed Forces team in her 20-year softball career that began in 1982.

“After that, we just base-hit them to death,” Acosta said minutes after the tournament ended. “It’s so surreal right now.”

Air Force lost the tournament opener Wednesday 16-14 to Army, but ran the table the rest of the way to finish 8-1, a game ahead of Army (7-2), which suffered its only two losses to Air Force, including Thursday’s 26-25 thriller.

Air Force fell behind 4-0 in the first inning, then rallied for nine runs before Army came back to tie it 11-11 entering the fifth inning. Army scored twice and Air Force once before staging its sixth-inning fireworks. Army could only respond with two runs in the top of the seventh.

Two Pacific-based airmen joined Trapnell on the All-Armed Forces team, which plays Labor Day weekend in the Amateur Softball Association national championship in Dallas.

First baseman Jamie Thompson of Misawa Air Base, Japan, was honored for the second time, while Mandy Snyder, an outfielder with the Kadena Falcons base team on Okinawa, made the All-Armed Forces team as a catcher.

They were also selected for the All-Tournament team, along with Kim Sinclair, an Army outfielder assigned to Camp Casey, South Korea.

2005 All-Armed Forces Women’s Softball Tournament

At Peterson Air Force Base, Colo.

Final standings

2005 All-Armed Forces Women’s Softball Tournament

At Peterson Air Force Base, Colo.

Final standings

W L Pct. GB

Air Force 8 1 .889 —

Army 7 2 .778 1

Navy 2 7 .222 6

Marine Corps 1 8 .111 7

Friday’s scores

Army 16, Marine Corps 4

Air Force 13, Navy 0

Air Force 14, Marine Corps 8

Army 21, Navy 6

Navy 16, Marine Corps 7

Air Force 20, Army 15

Awards

All-Armed Forces team (playing in Amateur Softball Association national championship Sept. 2-5 at Dallas):

P, Gerri Andreoni, Army; C, Amanda Snyder, Kadena Air Base, Okinawa; 1B, Jamie Thompson, Misawa Air Base, Japan; 2B, Shannon Eicheneer, Army; SS, Tammy Baldwin, Army; 3B, Jackie Dixon, Marine Corps; OF, Jackeedra Wimbley, Army; Niki Dunn, Army; Karrie Warren, Air Force; Michelle Murga, Army; DH, Cheryl Trapnell, RAF Mildenhall, England; P, Laurie Doughty, Air Force; 2B, Kristy Robinson, Air Force; 1B, Erica Mater, Navy; SS, Alison Ringaman, Navy; OF, Kisha McCloud, Air Force.

All-Tournament team

P, Gerri Andreoni, Army; C, Amanda Snyder, Kadena Air Base, Okinawa; 1B, Jamie Thompson, Misawa Air Base, Japan; 2B, Shannon Eicheneer, Army; SS, Tammy Baldwin, Army; 3B, Amanda Peters, Air Force; OF, Jackeedra Wimbley, Army; Kim Sinclair, Camp Casey, South Korea; Niki Dunn, Army; Karrie Warren, Air Force; DH, Cheryl Trapnell, RAF Mildenhall, England.

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