On Saturday the first ever slow pitch tournament took place on the Royals softball field. There was a lot of build up and anticipation leading up to Saturday’s event. Originally there were supposed to be four teams in total but due to some last minute drop outs the tournament got changed to a six on six tournament. The teams still found a way to have fun and put on a good game despite having fewer players and teams. 

The teams were split into two and then the fun began. It was a lopsided score for most of the game with team two holding a huge 12-1 lead. In the bottom of the fourth inning, team one cut that lead in half, bringing it to a 12-6 lead after a costly error by team two. Heading into the bottom of the seventh, team two held a 15-9 lead. Team one made an incredible effort in the bottom of the seventh, putting up six runs to tie it up. Team two finally got the last out to go into extra innings. In the top of the eighth inning, team one meant business. They came out with good defense and quickly got three outs. As soon as team one got to the bottom half of the eighth inning, they immediately got the leadoff batter on base. The next batter came up and hit a shot into the outfield to move the runner at first all the way to third. They had runners on first and third with no outs. The following batter came up and hit a single through the infield to score the runner from third and win the game. 

Junior Ethan Spicher participated in the softball event. “I enjoyed being able to play a game that brought me back to my childhood. I enjoyed playing wiffleball in my backyard growing up!” said Spicher. 

Senior Eli Roeschley also participated in the softball event and also enjoyed his time playing. “I had a great time playing in the tournament. It was fun to play something that I don’t typically play, and to make it a little competitive was even better. I definitely want a rematch though.” 

In her first year as the EMU Recreation Sports Coordinator, Katie Corbit had a positive outlook on the tournament. “I was so excited to hear from students that slow pitch softball was an intramural that had interest on campus. Even though we had a smaller tournament, it was a lot of fun to watch the competition and to see students having fun!” said Corbit. She also is hopeful to see more things in the future with the tournament. “I would love to see more students involved in the future for another tournament, but also getting more students involved in all intramural opportunities that Rec Sports offers.”

Though it was the first tournament, it went off without a hitch.. The students and Recreation Sports are looking forward to creating more fun like this on campus very soon.