EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. — After winning and losing the last two All-Armed Forces men’s softball tournament gold-medal games by one run each, Air Force left nothing to chance Saturday.

Scott Roe of Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, belted a three-run homer in the fourth inning as Air Force pounded Army 16-3 in the championship game, avenging last year’s 27-26 title-game loss.

“If I were a spectator, I’d have wanted a closer game,” said Air Force coach Steve Shortland, “… But a win is a win.”

Air Force, which also beat the Marine Corps 36-35 in the 2002 championship game, went 8-1 in the tournament and beat the defending champion soldiers twice.

Shortland praised the contributions of Roe and fellow Kadena shortstop Carlo Aguon, saying, “I’d love to have them back.”

Neither player was selected to the All-Armed Forces team playing later this week in the Amateur Softball Association’s Class A national tournament at Sanford, Fla.

But two other Pacific-based players were: Cherylton McRae of Okinawa’s Futenma Marine Corps Air Station was selected for the 14th time, which leads all active-duty players. Dexter Avery of Camp Carroll, South Korea, was picked for the seventh time.

The tournament is scheduled to begin Thursday and end Sunday, though Hurricane Ivan, expected to threaten Florida at the start of the week, could affect it.

Yellow Box celebrates second straight Grand Slam title

KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — Dexter High ripped two home runs, Gary Chaney and tournament MVP Jeff Cross hit one each and Yellow Box, an Okinawa-based open team, beat 1st Marine Aircraft Wing 17-1 in three innings to capture the 10th Kadena Klassic Pacificwide Open Softball Tournament title.

On the women’s side, MVP Stacy Collins of Outkast helped lead her team to a 16-6 triumph over Kadena’s Falcons in an all-Okinawa final.

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