Seventeen of the nation’s female lawmakers lost a heartbreaker of a softball game to 17 lady journalists Wednesday night. The annual congressional softball game ended in a 13-10 loss for the lawmakers, despite a come-from-behind rally in the sixth.
Highlights included Emmarie Huetteman of the New York Times ripping a stand-up triple, Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., turning a double-play at second and pretty much any time Amy Walter of ABC touched the ball. Walter fielded, hit, and ran the bases with aplomb, at one point barehanding a grounder and gunning the runner out at first.
The 75-year-old Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Calif., struck out two of her young opponents, including Jackie Kucinich of USA Today. Kucinich’s father, Dennis, was there to cheer her on (and to exhibit some light PDA on the sidelines with his wife Elizabeth).
Congressional captain Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., provided some fine moments as well. She had the crowd on her side, having stacked the bleachers with an army of cupcake-eating interns bearing sassy signs (“Hope you catch softballs as well as you catch typos”). A fierce competitor (this is the woman who broke her leg during a hard slide in the 2009 game), Wasserman Shultz looked positively furious after grounding out at first in the fifth inning.
The packed crowd included Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who announced the game, along with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Rep.Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and a smattering of D.C. journos. Proceeds from tickets went to the Young Survivor’s Coalition, which benefits young women diagnosed with breast cancer.
