The Congressional Women’s Softball Game may have been called early due to severe thunderstorms, but lawmakers still managed to upset the Capitol press corps.
The soggy weather marked an end to the members’ drought, with a 5-3 victory over the “Bad News Babes.”
Each year, the women of Congress have squared off against the press in a friendly game to raise money and awareness about young adult breast cancer. The most noticeable change Wednesday was the new venue. For the first time, the two teams played under the bright lights of Audi Field, home to D.C. United and the Washington Spirit.
“I think it’s exciting. It’s overwhelming,” Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., said of the switch to the soccer stadium. “This is fun, but I will say this, my staff were far more excited about the move to Audi Field than I was.”
In past years, press and lawmakers met at the humble Watkins Recreation Center in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, but the park was unavailable due to renovations. The number of tickets sold in recent years had also begun to strain the capacity of the local field.
In the leadup to first pitch, three questions hung in the air: Would Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.V., be able to leave the Senate’s ongoing vote-a-rama, would the weather hold up and would the members’ team be able to snap their losing streak?
While press and politicians took to the field, the Senate remained locked in its fourth vote-a-rama of the year over the White House-requested recissions package, which faces a looming passage deadline of midnight on Friday.
A mere 20 minutes before first pitch, Capito appeared on the field to cheers from the crowd.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., was also on hand, but instead of taking to the field she was once again situated behind home plate as an announcer.
A series of severe thunderstorms were in the forecast for the capital region Wednesday, and ominous clouds gathered over the stadium lights. At game time there was a National Weather Service flood watch in effect, and the humidity hovered around 75 percent.
A steady rain began falling in the second inning, and thunder rumbled through the stands. But the game rolled on until the fifth inning, when nearby lightning strikes ground the game to a halt. Members and fans rushed for cover as a 30 minute shelter-in-place was announced over the loudspeakers.
Lawmakers were looking to bounce back from back-to-back losses at the hands of the Capitol press corps. The members’ team has only won once in the past decade.
In the early going, the teams were closely matched, and the game remained tied 1-1 through two innings. But the lawmakers broke things open in the third off an RBI triple from Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kan.
By the fourth inning, the members’ team was up 5-1. The press corps soon struck back with an RBI single from Cassie Semyon of Spectrum News, but it wasn’t enough to even out the score before the storm delay. Organizers ultimately called the game, and play never resumed.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., may have been absent from the pitcher’s mound this year, but Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., easily filled her shoes. Castor held the Babes to just three runs, a marked contrast to Republicans’ rout over Democrats at the Congressional Baseball Game in June.
First-year players made a big impact as well. Rep. Julie Fedorchak, R-N.D., showed off impressive glovework at first base, including a catch on a well-hit line drive.
The stands in the 20,000-capacity stadium were nowhere near full, with sections closed off. Still, the fans in attendance, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., were enthusiastic. Reps. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M. and Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., boasted raucous cheering squads.
Meanwhile, some House Republicans were back on Capitol Hill, mired in tense negotiations over stalled cryptocurrency legislation.
On Monday, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., had expressed confidence in her team’s chances. “The Babes better watch out,” she said.
The teams have raised more than $4.3 million over the years for the nonprofit Young Survival Coalition, according to organizers.
Wasserman Schultz co-founded the game back in 2009, inspired by her own experience as a breast cancer survivor.
Before play started on Wednesday, Klobuchar gave a speech honoring former Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, who was posthumously inducted into the Congressional Women’s Softball Hall of Fame. Love died in March after a battle with brain cancer.
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