Breaking: Press Defeats Congress

Press 22, Congress 16

Credit: Allison Roberts

I played four years of college softball. I’ve played in state and conference championships, in big stadiums and packed ballparks. But the biggest game of my life came on Wednesday, on a D.C. diamond, against members of Congress.

Every year since 2010, Congresswomen and women of the press have faced off in a charity game benefiting the Young Survival Coalition, an organization that supports young women diagnosed with breast cancer. Over the years, the game has raised nearly $5 million. And it has its own survivor at its heart: Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who helped start the game while battling breast cancer herself.

On Wednesday, I suited up for the press team: the Bad News Babes.

I was the only rookie on either team. In eighteen years of playing this game, I never imagined it would lead me to take on Congress under the lights.

For months, we practiced every Monday at 7 a.m. on a small elementary school field in the city — the same field where the game was originally played. But over the last two years, the event has outgrown it. Now Audi Field, home of D.C. United, transforms into a softball diamond so the Bad News Babes can battle Congress in a real stadium.

There are lights and a jumbotron with instant replay. There are TV cameras, on-field interviews, VIP sections, media timeouts, and professional play-by-play. And of course, there are packed stands full of rowdy fans.

And there is trash talk.

At our kickoff event in July, Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz closed her opening remarks with a vow to beat the press. At the happy hour the night before the game, she told me she hoped I’d sleep poorly. And Congresswoman Kat Cammack went to the New York Post to predict an ass-whooping.

In the weeks leading up to the game, word had gotten around about my softball background. At our kickoff happy hour, organizers and donors told me I was the “talk of the town.” But I didn’t realize how much pressure there really was until a Capitol Police officer stopped me right before the first pitch to tell me he had placed a bet on me to hit a home run.

The trash talk and the expectations worked. I had jitters stepping up to the plate for the first time on Wednesday, and no amount of jello shots (which may or may not have happened) could calm them.

Then I opened with a ground-rule double — not quite the home run the officer was hoping for, but close — and the nerves were gone. We jumped out to a 7-1 lead through three innings.

In the fourth, the umpires showed whose side they were on.

Congress had started a small rally when I fired a throw from center field to second to catch a runner advancing from first. It should have ended the inning. Instead, the umpire called her safe. The replay on the big screen showed she was out, and the crowd let loose a loud chorus of boos. Congress then strung together a few hits to tie the game.

But all those 7 a.m. practices paid off. Over the next few innings, we built a 10-run lead, and heading into the bottom of the seventh, we were up 22-12. Then a surprise grand slam cut our lead nearly in half.

For my part, I went 2-for-2 with a double and was intentionally walked three times. (Yes, Congress admitted it.)

It was a rowdy, tension-filled game. Calls were argued, the crowd heckled both teams, and a small part of me was quite relieved when the pressure was over as we celebrated in the middle of the field after recording the final out.

It was also a record-setting night. The final score, 22-16, made it the highest-scoring game in the event’s history. More importantly, it was the most successful game ever: we blew past our fundraising goal and raised a record $882,596 for the Young Survival Coalition.

My parents came into town for the game, along with my future mother-in-law. Some of my Caller colleagues were there, and my beer league teammates organized a cheering section that tried to heckle Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi out of the game.

We stayed late at Audi Field for the afterparty, where my teammate Tamara Keith was named MVP for going 4-for-4 with six RBIs. Another record.

At midnight, the Babes and Congress were kicked off the dance floor, and the trophy was buckled into the front seat of a teammate’s car. We hugged goodbye with the promise of next year and wore our medals to work on Thursday. My CNN teammate even did an on-air segment about the game.

Softball is my passion. It has given me so many wonderful things: lifelong friends, four years at Hillsdale College, my fiancé. Eighteen years in, I thought I knew everything this game could give me.

Then it gave me a Wednesday night under the lights at Audi Field, $882,596 for young women facing breast cancer, and a team of Bad News Babes.

It was the biggest game of my life — so far. See you next year, Congress.

---

Like what you’re reading? If so, please consider upgrading to a paid State of the Day subscription or sharing this with a friend. You’d be supporting this newsletter and helping keep independent journalism alive.

If you are already a paid subscriber, make sure to join the conversation in our subscribers-only chat below.

---

More From Reagan Reese