Heroes defeat Legends, 11-2, in Wounded Heroes Baseball Classic

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Shane Dunaway
  • 355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
TUCSON, Ariz. --  A team of Airmen, Soldiers and Sailors, dubbed the "Heroes," defeated a team comprised of Major League Baseball's "Legends," 11-2, in the Wounded Heroes Baseball Classic held at Arizona Veteran's Memorial Stadium here March 12.

More than 400 local community members attended the game sponsored by Hope4Heroes, an organization established to raise awareness and support for our nation's veterans.

"Our goal is to honor our nation's veterans, pay respect to our major league legends and to support the local communities with various charities," said Victor Luker, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Hope4Heroes. "We're scheduled to play in seven games during the Wounded Heroes Baseball Tour, kicking off here in Tucson."

The Heroes team gained the advantage in the bottom of the first inning, 1-0, after a single by third baseman Steven Van Ert brought home second baseman Titus Beasley, who began the play on second base.

The lead would be short-lived. In the top of the second inning, Heroes pitcher Brian Hastings walked three batters and allowed two singles before closing the top. The Legends pitchers Jason Christiansen and Russ Ortiz batted in two runs, giving the Legends a 2-1 lead.

Hastings led off for the Heroes in the bottom of the second and hit a single. Two batters later, right fielder Matthew Burke hit a single, allowing Hastings to score and tie the game, 2-2. The Heroes scored three more runs to close out the bottom of the second inning, 5-2.

The three innings to come only yielded one run, scored by the Heroes after a Richard Pasemante double drove in Mike Lane. With five innings in the books, the Heroes held on to a 4-run lead, 6-2.

Heroes shortstop Timothy Hatcher, also pulling duty as a relief pitcher, struck out three consecutive Legends players, continuing their seemingly never-ending scoring drought. Hatcher continued to own the sixth inning, hitting a crushing triple that drove in three runs and essentially sealed the victory. Hatcher would also score the final run of the inning off a Van Ert single, creating an insurmountable 10-2 lead.

When the dust settled at the bottom of the eighth inning, the Heroes triumphed against the Legends, 11-2.

"It was an honor and pleasure to practice and play with our Heroes teammates, and now that it is over, I miss it, but I will never forget this opportunity," Hastings said. "I have always believed that sports are a powerful tool to build teams, camaraderie, esprit de corps and allow leaders to leverage relationships to accomplish a common goal.

"I have participated in sports continuously since the age of 5, and as teammates 'on the fields of friendly strife,' all Airmen are afforded an opportunity to learn a little about each other," he continued. "If Airmen use that time to build positive relationships, they can find out what motivates each other and then use that to their advantage. Grassroots influence is a powerful force that builds quickly, and sports allow Airmen to interact in a slightly different manner to strengthen unit cohesion and model behavior in support of mission accomplishment."

Though it was all fun and games for the players and the fans, Hastings also commented on the game's importance.

"It was my honor to support an extremely worthy organization, Hope4Heroes, in raising funds for wounded warriors and the Christina Taylor-Green fund," Hastings said. "Additionally, it was rewarding giving back to the children of Tucson during the MLB Legends Skill Camp and working with some of the MLB Heroes that I grew up with in the suburbs of Chicago."

Hastings, who outside the sports pages is referred to as Col. Brian Hastings, 355th Fighter Wing vice commander, expressed his sentiments from a leadership perspective.

"I believe it is important to lead by example and I would never expect our Airmen to do anything that I was not willing to do," he said. "Also, any positive and visible interaction our Airmen have with the Tucson community will result in an increase in good will for the military and potentially develop organizational momentum for DMAFB initiatives."