Chris Markey endured an exercise in frustration the first two days of the All-Armed Forces men’s softball tournament. He kept hitting the ball hard but right at somebody.

On Friday, a hard hit by Markey found a patch of outfield grass when it counted most for the All-Air Force team.

The only Pacific Air Forces player in the tournament tripled to right-center field leading off the bottom of the seventh and scored on Sherwin Lockbridge’s single, capping Air Force’s rally from an 8-0 deficit as the airmen beat Navy 9-8 and successfully defended their title.

“I was getting really unlucky,” said Markey, a tech sergeant assigned to the dental clinic at Osan Air Base, South Korea. “I was just hungry for another gold medal. I flew a long way and I didn’t want to leave empty-handed. Just stay focused to win another gold. We did what we needed to do.”

Air Force (7-2) edged a Marine Corps team (6-3) that won five of its last six games. Army (4-5), tied for first place with Air Force after the first day, faded, losing four of its last six.

All-Army’s Dexter Avery of Camp Carroll, South Korea, was selected for the All-Armed Forces team for the eighth time in his career.

The teams travels to Sanford, Fla., for next weekend’s Amateur Softball Association national majors championship.

On the women’s side, first baseman Jamie Thompson of Misawa Air Base, Japan, was selected an ASA All-American for the first time, after the All-Armed Forces team placed third with a 4-2 record in the ASA western regional tournament Labor Day weekend in Dallas.

All-Armed Forces Men’s Softball Tournament

All-Armed Forces Men’s Softball Tournament

At Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

Final standings

W L Pct. GB

Air Force 7 2 .778 —

Marine Corps 6 3 .667 1

Army 4 5 .444 3

Navy 1 8 .111 6

Wednesday’s games

Navy 7, Air Force 6

Army 14, Marine Corps 1

Air Force 14, Army 7

Marine Corps 5, Navy 3

Air Force 25, Marine Corps 3

Army 10, Navy 6

Thursday’s games

Marine Corps 8, Army 6

Air Force 11, Navy 3

Air Force 14, Army 8

Marine Corps 6, Navy 3

Marine Corps 6, Air Force 5

Army 12, Navy 2

Friday’s games

Marine Corps 10, Army 5

Air Force 9, Navy 8

Air Force 13, Marine Corps 4

Army 15, Navy 10

Marine Corps 10, Navy 7

Air Force 15, Army 12

Migrated