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SINGAPORE AMERICAN SCHOOL
boys softball iasas champions kent knipmeyer Varsity Boys Softball Coach
2013 was a very successful year for the Varsity Boys. Despite having practices and games canceled constantly due to the never-ending rain, we managed to piece together enough playing time to field a very strong team heading into IASAS. Having only lost a single friendly match at the exchange in Bangkok to the hosts, SAS was definitely considered one of the favorites as the IASAS Tournament started in Taipei. The Eagles didn’t disappoint. They sent a clear message to the only team we had lost to during the exchange by defeating the Bangkok Panthers 25-1.
Later that first cold and rainy night of the tournament, the boys suffered a come-from-behind loss to the host Taipei Tigers 18-17. There were many instances in that game in which fate could have gone the way of SAS, but that never happened. The Tigers pulled out a squeaker in the bottom of the seventh inning. This created a hunger in the Eagles that could only be satisfied by taking home the gold. The following games were exciting, and SAS was able to be victorious against Kuala Lumpur 18-14, Jakarta 29-9, and Manila 12-10 to set up a rematch against Taipei in the final.
The final game was initially a see-saw affair with the Eagles scoring five runs in the top of the first. A crushing homerun to straight-away centerfield by Sam Devine was followed by Taipei equaling the score at five in the bottom of the first. Taipei kept it close and was down 9-6 up until the sixth inning when the Eagles broke it open with ten runs in the last two innings, pulling away and winning 19-11. The SAS Eagles are the IASAS Champions for 2013.