The first day of summer in the nation’s capital was marked by more than extra daylight from the solstice, as members of Congress and the Washington press corps faced off at the ninth annual Congressional Women’s Softball Game.
The event has become somewhat of a traditional marker for the start of the season in DC. Players left politics at home for a night of friendly rivalry and fun to raise money for the Young Survival Coalition, a non-profit that targets breast cancer.
This year’s game took on a different tone, coming just a week after the GOP congressional baseball team was ambushed by a gunman at an early morning practice.
Several participants were shot, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, who is in fair condition as of Wednesday. The game Wednesday night had an emotional start when Capitol Police officer Crystal Griner, one of the four injured by the gunman, threw out the first pitch.
The Congressional Women’s Softball Game was started by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Sen. Susan Collins in 2009. In 2010, the team invited women of the press to join, according to the game’s website.
Wasserman Shultz said she helped start the tradition after announcing her own battle with breast cancer.
“We decided that putting together a softball game that Republican and Democratic women would compete in, but on the same team, together, and playing a common opponent, ultimately the press corp was a good way of promoting unity and comradare,” Wasserman Schultz said.
The game ultimately raised more than $200,000 and sold more than 2,000 tickets.
“Raising funds for the Young Survival Coalition and focusing on having this game be a platform to have women think about their risk is really an important cause for all of us,” Wasserman Schultz said.
The Congressional Women’s Softball Game organizing committee announced in May it had already raised more than $200,000, breaking a fundraising record early on. The same news release said the event had raised more than $1 million since the game’s inception.
“This is a moment when Congress actually comes together on a bipartisan basis to do something beneficial and good for others, and the community really supports us,” Gillibrand said.
Wasserman Schultz said the members of the Congress team prepares for about three months a year, two to three mornings a week starting at 7 a.m.
“We’re hardcore,” the congresswoman said.
The members of the press corp ultimately won, with a final score of 2-1. Other members of Congress attended to show support for their colleagues, including House Speaker Paul Ryan and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.
The rivalry between the two teams could be seen on Twitter leading up to the game:
“Congresswomen looking strong Watch us #BeatThePress tonight! #BeatCancer @CWSoftballGame @kasie @TexasTribAbby,” Rep. Kathy Castor, a Florida Democrat, tweeted Wednesday morning.