The Churubusco Chamber of Commerce beat the Firemen 11-15 Saturday at the Chamber’s annual Picnic in the Park and Chamber vs the Firemen softball game, just as they have done for the past several years.
But the firemen have found the secret to success. Thanks to some “girl power” on the Firemen’s team, the Chamber’s victory was never a sure thing.
When the Firemen told Todd Shively he ran like a girl last year, he took it to heart and drafted some skilled females for this year’s team.
Missy Bair and Jen Hauser and Kari Shively all playing for the Firemen - made some amazing catches and hits, scoring — points for the Firemen.
The Chamber was comprised of all male players, although to Coach John Schmidt’s credit, he was seen looking for some “bad players” before the start of the game and asked Dee Dee McCoy and Viv Sade if they wanted to play.
“We have some really good players on our team,” Schmidt said. Then, apparently in an effort to make it look as though he had not “stacked” the team, he asked McCoy and Sade to participate. They declined, saying they were saving themselves to train for the Ford Ironman World Championship in Winsconsin in January.
Announcer Don Amber had both teams and some audience members take a break after the sixth inning and go to the outfield and dance the Funky Chicken. Members of the Firemen team really got into it, at one point swinging partners and doe-si-doeing, all the while led by the energetic Grandma JJ.
The Chamber members, even though they had the lead, were much slower to sway their hips and shake their booties in response to the catchy tune.
Chris Tomlinson pinch-hit twice for the Firemen, with Kyle Bair running for Tomlinson, who was severely injured when a roof caved in on him while fighting a fire in February.
Tomlinson cracked it twice - “not bad for a broken-neck kind of guy,” said a fellow fireman on the team.
Loading ...
