Bada Bings Take Home CSL Title

(Patrick Curran/CQ Roll Call)

After a month of blowouts, strikeouts and — most frustrating of all — rainouts, the Congressional Softball League has crowned a champion.

The No. 2 Bada Bings took home the coveted Paul Myers Trophy on Saturday evening, capping a successful season and dominant tournament run with a 13-5 victory over No. 36 Margin of Terror. Full story

College Standout Lends Services to CSL Team

Abby Morgan isn’t the typical beer league softballer.

Sure, the native Floridian and shortstop for the Congressional Softball League’s Triskelions is in it for a good time. But she brings to the table a much more polished style of play. This comes from her days as a championship-caliber pitcher for the Lady Bears, the softball team for Washington University in St. Louis.

Her marquee achievement there: contributing to her team’s runner-up finish in the NCAA Division III College Softball World Series in 2007.

A softball player since age 8, Morgan dabbled in other athletic endeavors during her youth. Softball, however, captured her heart.   Full story

House League Bracket Is Out

Just a quick update, as things have all but wrapped up on the Mall this season. Three games remain on the Congressional League schedule, and four of the six teams involved have already been knocked out of the playoffs. The league will wrap up its season this Saturday at Beulah Fields in Alexandria, Va.; check out our preview post from last week for more details.

The House League, meanwhile, released its tournament bracket over Labor Day weekend. No major surprises there — the final week of play resulted in some slight reshuffling and a few knockouts, but the top four seeds went to Texas Republic, the Mastodons, the Cap City Brewing Flyers and Owego Fire Dept., all of whom have been dominant all season.

The KGBs, Natural Disasters, Channel 4 News Team and Cold Hard Cash stayed on the right side of the bubble to snag the last four spots. The bracket won’t be finalized until Thursday, after the top 48 teams have either accepted or waived their bids, so teams like the No. 49 Not Rocket Scientists shouldn’t give up hope just yet.

Still, it appears that most teams will be accepting the invitation — many more than did in the Congressional League, in any case — so most wait-listed squads shouldn’t hold their breath.

It’ll be a light news week here with few games on tap, but be sure to check back this weekend for updates regarding the finalized HSL bracket and coverage of the CSL finals.

Thunderstorms and Playoff Softball … Must Be August in D.C.

A nasty storm cloud burst over Georgetown just as your correspondent was leaving for the day’s games, so we didn’t have any live coverage on a dreary Wednesday night. For those of you in need of a softball fix, here’s a quick update of what’s going on around the leagues:

• Congress’ August recess isn’t enough to keep softballers inside. The Congressional and House leagues are still in action, boasting several games on the schedule each night. Early evening thunderstorms are common, but they occasionally dissipate before reaching Southwest D.C., where most games take place. The weather has been much more tolerable lately when it’s not raining (remember the 100-degree streak of early July?), so right now is a prime time to crack open a *soda* or two and go enjoy some casual softball.

• Still, with Congress in recess and the Republican and Democratic conventions going off in the coming weeks, there are many more open fields than we’ve seen all summer. Teams who usually can’t reserve a field early enough might want to take advantage.

• The Congressional Softball League tournament is kicking into high gear, and we’ve got all the coverage you can ask for. You can find our recap of the first day of group play here, highlights of which include a bad sunburn, a couple of big upsets and a cat running for Congress. Check in later this week for a short preview of this weekend’s slate. If you can’t make it out to Beulah Fields to watch the action Saturday, D.C’s best softball Twitter account will once again provide a live feed.

• As we mentioned last night, the House league playoff field is beginning to crystallize. On the outside looking in? Keep an eye on the tournament projection page to see whether your team has a chance at sneaking into a playoff bid based on cancellation or a loss this week.

That’s all for now, softballers. If your game didn’t get rained out, be sure to tweet results and photos @CQRCSoftball.

Naked Shorts Win Intra-SEC Battle

(Patrick Curran/CQ Roll Call)

Civil war has descended upon the Securities and Exchange Commission! Well, sort of.

The Naked Shorts (10-2) beat fellow SEC squad the Red Stocks (6-5), 13-6, at Monument Field No. 4 on Wednesday night, solidifying their position in the Congressional Softball League’s top 10 heading into the postseason.

The Naked Shorts have been competing in the National Mall’s most casual conference for years. But the Shorts could only field so many players at a time, and in 2011, demand for a second team reached critical mass at the SEC. The result was the Red Stocks, who are unaffiliated with Boston but who — unlike the Sox — are above average this year, holding steady at No. 42.

Wednesday’s game was the first meeting between the two squads. Full story

Naughty Fingers Upsets Uncle John’s Band

(Patrick Curran/CQ Roll Call)

As any seasoned sports bettor knows, records don’t always tell a team’s whole story.

That reality was thrown into stark relief in the Congressional Softball League on Thursday night, as the 71st-ranked Naughty Fingers walloped 15th-ranked Uncle John’s Band, 18-8, on the National Mall.

A group of college friends, the Naughty Fingers are listed on the CSL website as 0-3 on the season — hardly an intimidating mark. But according to captain A.J. Board, the Fingers simply never get around to reporting game results and in fact haven’t lost since Roll Call last covered the team in early June. Full story

One Hitters Edge Booze, Win or Lose in Top-10 Battle

(Patrick Curran/CQ Roll Call)

Pot-smoking athletes, when caught, insist that marijuana isn’t a performance-enhancing drug — a point that is rarely challenged, even by opponents. Whether that translates in the Congressional Softball League is less clear.

The marijuana lobby’s One Hitters (10-2) smoked Booze, Win or Lose (9-3), 22-11, in a battle of CSL vice squads Wednesday night at 21st Street and Constitution Avenue. Full story

Late-Inning Surge Powers Transport This to Victory

(Aaron Guerrero/CQ Roll Call)

Shaking off an early deficit, Transport This relied on some late-inning heroics to defeat Bloomberg Government 10-7 in Congressional Softball League action Monday night.

Primarily from the sales, data and products end of the publication, Bloomberg Government couldn’t have asked for a better start. The team smacked the ball around early to get three runs across the plate.

When it came time for the Department of Transportation squad’s first at bat, the team was hardly rattled, scoring four runs and taking the lead. Full story

No Member or Office? No Problem for Softballers

Every two years, an unlucky few lawmakers clean out their offices and say goodbye to Capitol Hill. Their staffers are left searching for new positions — some follow their bosses to new campaigns, cross over into the private sector, stroll down to K Street or go to work for other candidates.

But that doesn’t mean they don’t keep playing softball.

The staffers’ diaspora is a death sentence for some teams. For others, it takes more than a mere election loss to break the ties formed on the orange-cone diamond.

Because the D.C. softball leagues frequented by Congressional staffers aren’t officially affiliated with Congress, there’s virtually no regulation on who can join a team. As a result, most squads feature a combination of office staff and friends simply looking for a good time.

The tendency of teams to evolve might be a major contributing factor in their ability to survive an election loss or retirement. Just as a diverse stock portfolio is safer in the event of an industry crash, a diverse team is less likely to crumble after a tumultuous election year.

Full story

Alphabet Soup Edges Yellow Journalists in Marquee Matchup

(Patrick Curran/CQ Roll Call)

One of the perks of a league in which the commissioner plays is that it makes it remarkably easy to stick it to the Man.

Alphabet Soup did just that tonight, rallying in the bottom of the seventh for a thrilling 11-10 victory over Congressional League Commissioner Gary Caruso’s Yellow Journalists.

This was as close to a matchup of bluebloods as one could hope for in slow-pitch softball: The Journalists are the CSL’s oldest squad, and Alphabet Soup isn’t far behind.

Because of scheduling conflicts, the teams had never met in the regular season until today. However, the Yellow Journalists had come out on the better side of three epic playoff battles, giving today’s game plenty of drama. Full story

Rookie Team’s Luck Runs Out Against Veteran Opponent

(Aaron Guerrero/CQ Roll Call)

Team Dump Truck, a first-year Congressional Softball League team loaded with University of Florida alumni, had an impressive record before Tuesday night’s game, sitting at 6-2 and ranked 18th in the league.

But then they ran into the buzzsaw known as the Triskelions, suffering a 9-5 loss at the hands of a team that has been in existence since Bill Clinton was president, though the name and composition has changed frequently since then.

Before the game kicked off, Dump Truck team captain Joe Schule acknowledged that playing some of the league’s bottom-dwellers had perhaps artificially inflated the team’s win count.

Still, the collection of former Gators showed little intimidation, hitting for a litter of singles that left the opposition in a two-run hole after top half of the first inning. Full story

Below .500 Teams Face Off With Eye Toward Post-Season

(Aaron Guerrero/CQ Roll Call)

In the Congressional Softball League , even if you’re down, you’re far from out.

The CSL post-season tournament is open to every team, no matter how lopsided a team’s loss column is to its win column.

For the NAB’s Big Sticks, who entered the game with a 2-7 record, and the PACA Fools, lacking a win to their name, Monday’s game presented an opportunity to build some kind of momentum before the regular season ends.

Representing the National Association of Broadcasters, the Big Sticks began the game well, something mostly foreign to them this year. Full story

SEC Dominates Battle of Regulators

(Patrick Curran/CQ Roll Call)

Let’s hope the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. protects our finances better than it does the outfield.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Naked Shorts (8-1) posted a 31-13 win over the FDIC’s Too Big to Fail (2-9) in a Wednesday night Congressional Softball League battle of banking regulators.

The two teams are among very few in the D.C. softball scene that have received media coverage outside the Washington metro area. A piece appearing a year ago today in Dealbook, the New York Times’ finance blog, prominently featured both squads.

Apparently, not much has changed since then. The Naked Shorts are sitting pretty with eight wins, while Too Big to Fail trailing has only two — just as they were last season.

“We typically like to schedule different financial regulators, and I think we play them almost every year.” Shorts captain Brian Fitzsimons said. Full story

All Vols Win Heated Rematch Against La Flama Blanca

(Aaron Guerrero/CQ Roll Call)

It was a testy affair Tuesday night, as the All Vols eked out a 13-12 victory in the bottom of the seventh inning over La Flama Blanca.

The Congressional Softball League game was a rematch from June, when La Flama Blanca, a team whose roots date back to the campus of George Washington, prevailed over the collection of former Peace Corps volunteers.

What was an otherwise good game between two very good teams became overshadowed by extended moments of hot-headend theatrics.

Clinging to a 7-6 lead at beginning of the fourth inning, a close play at second involving a sliding Vols runner triggered a disputed call and a poisoned well. In the CSL, the first and third base coaches are turned into impromptu umpires. It’s a formula that invites favoritism, and on this night, anger. Full story

What’s in a Name? For Hill Softballers, Identity

Settling on a name is a weighty proposition for teams in the House, Senate and Congressional softball leagues. That’s why outside-the-box thinking is the norm rather than the exception. With one collective decision, the string of words will either cloak them in celebrity, provoke fear in opponents or make the masses laugh.

Sift through the standings on the trio of league websites and the names range from the humorous to the spiritual to the, shall we say, less than appropriate.
Full story