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Jimmy Perez and Camp Stanley sent a strong statement Saturday: The team is one to be reckoned with in next month’s Koreawide Post-Level softball tournament.

Stanley spotted Camp Page five runs in the first inning, then scored 16 unanswered runs to win the championship game of the 2004 Warrior Division Tournament, earning the league’s top seed in the Koreawide event, scheduled for Aug. 7-8 at Yongsan Garrison.

“It’s a big accomplishment,” said Perez, an All-Army ballplayer. “We worked hard to get here and the hard work paid off.”

Stanley’s championship was a bit of a surprise. Camp Casey (25-8 overall, 19-3 regular season) entered as the favorite after winning the tournament 14 of the past 16 years. Stanley (24-8, 16-6), which finished second to Camp Casey in league play, had never won the Warrior Division tournament until Saturday’s 16-5 triumph.

“It’s been awhile since Stanley has been at this level,” Perez said.

As the top seed of the Warrior League, Stanley will play the No. 4-seeded team from the Korea Traveling League, which at this point is Camp Humphreys (15-13, 13-9).

Page (11-15, 11-9) secured the second seed, followed by Camp Red Cloud (14-16, 11-13).

“Stanley played great and so did Page,” Casey coach Bob Hochmuth said. “Stanley deserves a lot of credit. They were down 5-0 and they came back. We just didn’t hit. The other teams did. They were out there making the great plays and we didn’t.”

Hochmuth has some ideas about how to change his club’s performance.

“All we’re going to do for the next week and a half [in practice] is hit,” Hochmuth said. “Until curfew, they’re hitting.”

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