A pitcher with the West Point Black Knights prepares to throw the baseball during a service academy match against the Air Force Falcons, on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, at the U.S Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Military Academy West Point via X)
(Tribune News Service) — Army and Air Force fans alike looked to the skies as the Wings of Blue U.S. Air Force parachute team drifted down to the center of Erdle Field on Friday afternoon.
Each jumpmaster had a flag representing the armed forces, with the last one carrying an American flag to elicit a rousing applause from the stands.
It was a special occasion that called for a patriotic celebration. For the first time since 1993, Falcons baseball hosted the Black Knights on Friday for their first home series of the season.
Air Force started the series with an exciting 9-8 walk-off win over Army. But it was more than just a baseball game for the sister service academies.
“It’s an awesome opportunity for both teams to compete on the friendly field, but at the end of the day we are brothers in arms,” Falcon coach Mike Kazlausky said. “That’s the exciting part of it. This is just a baseball game. I have the utmost respect for the West Point baseball team, not only for what they are doing on the field, but most importantly for us as Americans.”
This is only the second time in program history that the Falcons have hosted Army, with the last time being a four-game series in 1993 that Air Force won 3-1.
Prior to Friday’s game, the Falcons gave West Point a tour of the academy, as Army did for the Falcons in the fall. For pitcher Patrick Davidson, who was originally committed to West Point out of high school, it was an extra special opportunity to host the West Point cadets.
“I’m good friends with all those guys,” Davidson said. “At the end of the day it’s one team, one fight so its cool to share this experience with them.”
After allowing six runs in the fifth inning to trail 8-4, the Falcons responded with three runs over the next two innings to tie the game 8-8 in the bottom of the eighth.
In the bottom of the 11th inning, with sunlight quickly waning, Christian Taylor bunted to get Walker Zapp into home plate for the walk-off win.
“It’s something we stress a lot, it’s more than a baseball game and we are on the same team at the end of the day,” Zapp said. “But in between these white lines, we want to beat those dudes and it feels good to get a win, especially against Army.”
The Falcons started the game strong with a 4-0 lead after the second inning. However, Army began to gain some momentum after Thomas Schreck hit a triple before scoring in the top of the third for the Black Knights’ first run of the game.
After scoring in the top of the fourth inning, the Knights’ Addison Ainsworth doubled and advanced to third on a fielding error for three RBIs. He then scored to push Army ahead 6-4 in the top of the fifth and the Knights added two more scores to lead 8-4 into the sixth inning.
“This team is so resilient,” Zapp said. “We took momentum from our win over Navy into today and fought until the end.”
“Any win is a big win,” Kazlausky said. “We didn’t play extremely well … but it’s a fight no matter what sport. I tip my cap to the West Point program and what they are going to do for our country. It’s a lot bigger than baseball what our kids are doing here. We are preparing them to be war fighters and go serve, fight, and win. That’s the exciting part is seeing these kids grow and develop.”
The Falcons will meet the Black Knights again Saturday at 1 p.m. The series can be streamed on the Mountain West Network.
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