MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. -- The final drama in the explosive three-day Thanksgiving Dodgeball Tournament came to an end Nov. 16 at the East Gym.
With nine of the 17 teams eliminated, only eight remained to fight for the championship.
Half way through day two, the A-Team aimed to take the tournament without any losses.
“We’re positive about the games ahead,” said Matthew Witte, captain for the A-Team. “We’ve dominated all our opponents so far and we don’t expect anything to change.”
The 4 Boots and an NCO team also had a positive outlook, but came to play more for the enjoyment than the victory.
“We’re going to try to dominate, but mostly, we’re just out here to try to have fun,” said Tim Hanson, team captain for 4 Boots and an NCO.
The night began with the remaining teams in the losers’ bracket facing off.
The Purple Cobras were the first team of the night to bite the dust as Marine Corps Communication-Electronics School Supply pushed them out of the tournament. The 4 Boots and an NCO followed right behind them after losing to The Other Dudes.
William R. Smith, executive officer for Bravo Company, MCCES and T.O.D.s’ team captain, knew his team held no advantage in the tournament because of rank. On the contrary, it may have been a disability for a team of all officers going up against enlisted service members who were out for retribution.
“They want to get out and nail a bunch of officers in dodgeball,” said Smith. “They want to get us. It’s payback.”
MCCES Supply kept their winning streak in the losers’ bracket from the first two nights and beat out the second snake team Mojave Vipers.
Back in the winners’ bracket, Data Systems Chief Course 3-5 crushed their first match against the Wire Dawgs, forcing the Dawgs into the losers’ bracket.
DSCC 3-5 came with a solid strategy from having watched the other teams play and learning who the power players were from each team.
“We try to go for the best throwers first,” said Alejandros Gutierez, team captain for DSCC. “We’re racing for the championship.”
And race they did. They dominated the winner’s bracket straight to the championship game.
The A-Team, after accepting defeat to DSCC the night prior, came out with a vengeance and put away T.O.D.s. After some debate about a timeout called by Michael Gaskell, A-Team, which would have forced him out of the game, Gaskell proceeded to take out the remaining members of T.O.D.s in game five for the match.
MCCES Supply and Wire Dawgs came next in A-Team’s rush to the championship for a second chance against DSCC.
It was a close battle but DSCC came out ahead in game five to take the match and claim themselves champions of the Dodgeball tournament.
Michael D. Taber, MCCES data chief instructor, from the A-Team expressed his fatigue from the all the dodgeball games before the final match.
“I’m tired from playing back to back to back like that,” said Taber. “You don’t realize how tiring dodgeball is until you get out here and play it.”