Inaugural City vs. County Softball Game a Hit

By ANGELA KELLOGG-HENRY

Cleaver Managing Editor

HARRISON – On Saturday, May 16, the City of Harrison took on the County of Clare in a softball game for charity. The game was held at Harrison City Park where Triple C’s Concession was on hand to serve family, friends and fans of badly played softball. State Rep. Tom Kunse was a fan in the stands and gave a generous donation.

The city showed up in matching jerseys with the team’s name “City Slickers” personalized with their names on the back. Taxpayers take note, they were purchased by the players who also donated to play. Players were a mix of city employees from the office, DPW, fire department, and city council members.

The county had to recruit new players at the last minute. Their employees probably heard the heat the city was bringing to the game and canceled though graduation weekend may have had more to do with it. The county recruited friends and family to play that consisted of top little league players and retired semi-professional local beer league players. They showed up in intimidating jerseys from old teams with names like “Kill Switch.” They barely warmed up before taking the field with the confidence of 1970s Dads batting fielders to the local sandlot team while balancing a Pabst Blue Ribbon before Michigan had a bottle return law.

The game started late after two playing’s of the national anthem; the city players wore out from their aggressive warm-up session and Motrin already making it’s rounds in the dugout. The city won the coin toss, and they soon realized it was the only thing they were winning that day despite that the umpire “Snacks” is a city employee.

By the second inning, the score was 17-1 with the county going through their batting line up like a hot knife through butter and city players declaring “the important thing is to have fun” and “this is all for charity.”

The city players from the Harrison Fire Department catching style in the field is best described as “stop, drop and roll.” But they were all heart with personalized hype phrases that included: “Garrett, don’t share it, send it,” “Colt the Jolt,” “Can’t you see, it’s Connieeeee,” “Yeah, Blaine, make them go insane,” and “Dan’s our man.”

No amount of hype could combat the nonchalant playing style of the county and their numerous out of the fence homeruns and lackadaisical errors that had to be intentional. As the innings wore on the city players’ strategy of throwing their mitts at the ball and hoping it landed as a catch was wearing thin. The county was slow jogging the bases and helping the city field the ball at the same time. The game dissolved into Laurel and Hardy antics at one point with intentional faux collisions and dramatic plays.

By the fifth inning the score was 47-19 and City Manager Cavanaugh was sliding into first base like he forgot the rules and leaving blood on the field. This writer was player No. 11 and had a hot bat with three hits that went almost past the pitching mound. My 15-year-old son ran the bases for me and scored each time, the opposing team having no intention of trying to outrun a teenager.

In the seventh inning, fire tones went off, and the city lost five of its most cheerful players as they sped out of the fields confident that they could fight fires and save lives better than they could play softball. The city pulled up 12U softball players from the crowd, the county put in their grandfatherly relief pitcher, and four players from the county joined the city team. The sun was hot, the breeze was gone; knees were hurting, Triple C’s was handing out free cold lemonades to players, and the game ended with a score of 55-28.

The City was hoping for a win to donate their funds to the Northern Michigan Alliance for Children. The County was playing for the Clare County Animal Shelter for a specific project at the shelter. In the end, the funds raised were split 50/50 between both organizations. Both teams raised enough funds to give $534 to each organization.

The Clare County Animal Shelter will use the funds towards an outdoor pavilion kennel area.

“Our indoor kennels are at capacity, and the stress levels are rising. When dogs are cramped, they get anxious, bark more, and become harder to rehome,” said Tara Westphal, animal control officer.. “An outdoor pavilion doubles our usable space and provides a safe area for meet and greets with potential families.” 

Michala Reese from the Northern Michigan Alliance for Children was on hand to watch the game and purchased her own jersey to support the “Slickers.”

“1 in every 4 children experience some form of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse,” said Reese. “Just another day working toward one less with events that support us like this.” Visit www.mikids.org/ to learn about and to support their organization.

The game was organized by Anita Yager, Harrison Downtown Development Director and program coordinator for the City of Harrison, and Jenny Beemer- Fritzinger, County Treasurer, who also served as team captains. Yager’s mission, in addition to raising money for the chosen charities, is to bring more visitors and events to Harrison City Park and other city assets. Her enthusiasm and competitive streak didn’t help win the game, but this successful event will be held again next year.

“This weekend’s charity softball game was a huge success, and we want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped make it possible,” Yager said. “A special thank you goes to State Representative Tom Kunse for his generous donation and support of the event. We would also like to thank Chris Elliott and Triple C Concessions for their contribution to the cause. We are incredibly grateful to all the family members, friends, and community supporters who came out to cheer on both teams as we went head-to-head with the county. It was a beautiful day for softball, filled with fun, laughter, and great community spirit. While we may all be a little sore and banged up afterward, everyone walked away in great spirits and with wonderful memories from the day. The overwhelming support and positive response have inspired us to make this charity softball game an annual event. We are already looking forward to next year, so stay tuned for more details in the future.”