Subscribe

First time's a charm. And so is the second time.

The Aviano Saints won a softball game against the Naples Wildcats for the first time in the program's history on Friday. Then they made it a streak, completing a 14-8 and 18-12 sweep of their in-country nemesis.

The Saints, an emerging favorite to claim the Division II/III title in next month's tournament, completed a 4-0 weekend on Saturday with 18-3 and 15-6 wins over Sigonella.

In addition to ending years of futility against Italy's historically dominant program, the Friday wins over Naples avenged Aviano's only losses of the season.

The Saints nearly knocked off the Wildcats on April 17 before taking a 2-1 loss; they fell 12-4 to Naples the next day.

Friday was a different story, as an explosive Aviano offense piled up a combined 32 runs to outgun a still potent Naples offense. The Saint fireworks continued with 33 total runs against Sigonella.

McKenzie Milligan was the hitting star of the weekend for Aviano, hitting three home runs. She drove in four runs in game two against Naples and five more in game one versus Sigonella.

Shamera Lane went 3-for-3 with a pair of home runs, a double and seven RBI in the opening win over the Jaguars on Saturday.

Aviano will look for another pair of signature wins in its final regular-season series, a May 9 visit from Vicenza.

Patch 14/16, Hohenfels 4/1: Saturday at Hohenfels, the defending Division I champions registered a confidence-boosting sweep of the lower-division home team.

Pitchers Elizabeth Hansen and Mackenzie Coleman turned in consecutive seven-inning gems for Patch, which earned its first doubleheader sweep of the year after splitting series with Vilseck and Kaiserslautern.

Ramstein 12/13, Wiesbaden 2/1: Friday at Ramstein, the unbeaten Royals posted a pair of double-digit wins over the Warriors.

Jada Bass threw five innings of one-hit ball and struck out eight Wiesbaden batters in the opener. Sierra Nelson sparked the sweep-clinching second win with a three-run triple.

Sign Up for Daily Headlines

Sign up to receive a daily email of today's top military news stories from Stars and Stripes and top news outlets from around the world.

Sign Up Now