KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — Racing against time and the elements, organizers of the 10th Kadena Klassic Pacificwide Open Softball Tournament said Sunday they hoped to get the event finished by late Monday.

“We’ll try to get it done if we can,” event director Dexter High said by telephone Sunday of a tournament halted Saturday evening by the approach of Typhoon Songda.

The storm, which lashed Okinawa on Sunday with winds of about 78 mph and up to 3 inches of rain, caused military installations on the island to be put into Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness 1 at 6:10 p.m. Saturday, restricting outdoor activity.

That halted round-robin play. Each of the 22 teams still had two games remaining in pool play.

Winds of 58 mph or greater were expected to continue until 9 a.m. Monday, officials at Kadena’s 18th Weather Flight said.

Once the all-clear is sounded, High said, about three hours would be needed for the grounds crew to return Kadena’s FourDiamonds complex to playing shape, and for chief umpire Mark Bradshaw to round up enough umpires to complete play.

High said round-robin games that had no bearing on the double-elimination playoff field would not be played. About 10 hours would be needed to complete the playoffs, he estimated.

Completing the tournament on time, High said, was important because contestants include the Sasebo Pirates of Japan and Guam’s Andersen Bombers.

“We want to finish the tournament for the off-island teams,” he said. Failing that, “we’ll fall back to next weekend.”

However, yet another tropical storm, Sarika, lurks to the east of Okinawa. Forecast to arrive in about a week, the new storm could affect such plans. Joint Typhoon Warning Center officials forecast that Sarika will become the fourth major typhoon to pass Okinawa in as many weeks.

Two Pacific players named to All-Army women’s team

Two soldiers stationed in the Pacific have been selected to the All-Army women’s softball team, Army tryout camp officials at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pa., announced Friday.

Christy Maxwell of Camp Casey, South Korea, and Phyllis Jernigan of Torii Station on Okinawa were selected to the 15-player team. They were chosen from among 33 soldiers picked for the All-Army tryout camp, which began Aug. 17 at Fort Indiantown Gap.

The All-Army team will play in the All-Armed Forces tournament Sept. 15-17 at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. Players named to the All-Armed Forces team then move on to the Amateur Softball Association’s Open West Championship, scheduled for Sept. 24-27 at San Antonio, Texas.

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