GOP Gets a Victory – RNC Beats DNC in Softball

June 27, 2:21 pm by merlisa

The Republican National Committee overcame a seventh-inning surge, a sandstorm, a half-hour rain delay and a late dugout arrival from Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) to defeat the Democratic National Committee 5-4 in a Congressional League softball game Friday evening at Guy Mason Park near Georgetown.

It was the fourth consecutive win for the RNC (2-0) over the DNC (5-2).

The RNC jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third inning. Defense dominated the first four innings, with great infield play by each team. “Both teams brought their A-game today,” said Congressional League Commissioner Gary Caruso, who was on hand to present trophies to the winner and loser.

Determined to end their losing streak, the DNC arrived early wearing white T-shirts with red, white and blue “Team 44” on the front and the number 44 on the back. The RNC showed up with new black T-shirts with only white stenciled letters RNC on the front. “Their Dick [Cheney] Vader look,” said Caruso.

Down 2-0 going into the fifth, the DNC staged a comeback just as it started raining. Then a bizarre sandstorm whipped through the ball field with players and spectators turning their backs to swirling red clay. As the sandstorm died down, rain began pouring — and pouring. Soon supporters for both teams moved from the bleachers into the dugouts. Tree limbs flew.

With zero visibility and standing water in the dugouts, surely the game had to be called. Nope, not with the score tied 2-2. Caruso said before the game both sides were determined to finish no matter what.

During the storm, the DNC dugout erupted into chants of “D-N-C, D-N-C, D-N-C.” Someone in the RNC dugout held up a large sign that read “Cocktails.”

The rain began to subside, but then thunder and lightning started, “I told you we would bring the thunder,” said Hari Sevugan, national press secretary for the DNC. During the rain delay, word spread that the House had passed the landmark climate change bill. This led to chants of “En-er-gy, En-er-gy!” from the DNC dugout.

“O-ver Spend-ing,” the RNC players chanted back.

“Are they talking about [RNC Chairman] Michael Steele’s office?” quipped Sevugan.

After dredging the outfield and waiting for lightning to dissipate, the game resumed. By now Kaine was in the DNC dugout cheering on the team. It seemed to help. The DNC managed to hold the RNC scoreless in two innings.

In the seventh inning, with the score tied 2-2 and two outs, a petite Paola Luisi made her way to the plate for the DNC. She hit a grounder right to RNC pitcher Deepak Ramnath who had an easy out at first base. Instead Ramnath tried to make a play at second, missing the second baseman. The error allowed two runs to score, giving the DNC a 4-2 lead going into the bottom of the seventh. “I thought I might have blown the game,” said Ramnath. “But as usual, when the Democrats have a lead, they find a way to screw something up.”

It didn’t take long for the RNC to get on base in the bottom of the final inning, and a base hit by Gail Gitcho, RNC press secretary and team catcher, sent a runner home to make it 4-3.

With the game on the line, DNC players called for a conference with the umpire to go over a rule that prohibits walking a male player to get to the female player. They worried about losing a close game on a technicality.

Meanwhile the trash-talking escalated. The RNC dugout chanted “Your Re-cess-sion! Your Re-cess-sion!” The DNC countered with “Ar-gen-tina! Ar-gen-tina!” a reference to the extramarital affair of South Carolina Republican Gov. Mark Sanford.
“The Republicans are going to come back like it’s 1994,” said Bryant Adams, a former RNC staffer on hand to support his colleagues.

Indeed. Jeremy Kenney, who works in information technology at the RNC, came to the plate with the winning run at second. Kenney hit a rope over the head of DNC Executive Director Jen O’Malley, who had played superb defense at first base all game. “She is really awesome,” said Kenney, who had no idea he had driven in the winning run. “I sat there on second base and was wondering, ‘What’s going on?’”

After the game, Caruso presented the RNC with the Big Stick Trophy and the DNC once again went home with the “Second Big Stick” trophy.

Along with the winning trophy, Gitcho gets to write the lead item on the Democrats’ Monday morning briefing and Sevugan has to use the 5-4 score as his tagline all day.

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