A sports article written by a girl who knows nothing about sports:

I arrive just before the game begins. The song ‘Electric Feel’ plays through the blaring speakers and it seems fitting because the static determination to dominate the opposing team is tangible and electrifying.

It is that time of year again, when students and teachers go head to head to prove who the true softball champions of SDA are. Students fight for their chance to rise above their educators. Teachers struggle to retain their dominating position.

The students are up to bat first. Kerri .Leonard, English, readies herself at the catcher’s position. She grins back at me, teeth glinting in the sunlight. She’s ready to win and the neon green ‘champ’ headband stands as a testament to this.
“Jesus.” A senior next to me says, “that headband is why she is my favorite person who ever existed.”

“Just making sure we know where things stand,” Leonard yells back. The umpire towers over her. I’m not sure how such a tiny person can be filled with so much sass.

The game commences and the crack of the bat, and the cheers from the stands fill my ears. The scent of pizza, sweat and sand complete the ambience.

Jeremy. Wright, art teacher, squints past the sun, making sure if the ball happens into his section of outfield he will be ready. For his efforts, he is rewarded by the announcer, senior, Sarah Santore’s booming over the intercom, “Mr.Wright’s enjoying some light.”. The bubbly beauty is especially pun happy today.

Her spirit eclipses that of everyone else in the stands as she gleefully shoots out puns for each teacher’s name, dances at the victories of the student team, and engages in what social studies teacher Kevin Witt later refers to as “gentle heckling”.

Soon it is the teachers turn to swing the bat, and they gather in the chain link cage on the side of the diamond as the students escape theirs and speckle the field. Witt practices his swinging off to the side. When it is his turn, cheers erupt from the teachers’ corner as he smacks the ball with the bat, sending it flying into the air. He runs at full speed, cheers from his team propelling him forward.

1st base…. 2nd base….. 3rd

They’re gaining on him! Will he make it?

“Woo hoo! What a hit Mr. Witt!” Santore cries. He blasts through home with only seconds to spare.

Teachers and students trade places once again. Profe. John West, Spanish, clad in turquoise sneakers, lunges for a ball. It seems he’s about to save it, when it changes course and flies between his legs. His befuddled expression is priceless.

Freshman, Tori Corder, is one of the most impressive players on the student team, giving her all to each at bat and never backing down. She swings the bat with elegance and grace and catapults the ball into the air as she manages to run from home to 1st and then on the next bat, from 2nd to home.
Taryn Faul, another young freshman player is hot on her tail as she too runs the bases at incredible speed, and Rachel Gartner, yet another talented freshman player puts her long legs to good used as she runs the bases, in skinny jeans faster than most of us could ever dream.

One of the best moments of the afternoon was when Sheryl. Bode, Spanish, thick red-rimmed glasses taking up half her face, and silver hoop earrings the size of doughnuts, argued her way out of striking out. “It was a foul!” she yells. A belligerent Bode crosses her arms and says, “You threw it on the friggin ground.” She gets her way and bats again, only to get out after her next colleague takes his swing. She blew kisses to her fans on the bleachers as she struts back to the dugout.
At one point the ball is fouled off into the audience and the onlookers’ cheers transform into shocked shrieks. I didn’t quite catch who perpetrated the crime, but there were a couple of bashful faces on the field. Luckily everyone was ok.

Rob Ross, English, my personal favorite teacher at SDA, steps up to the plate. His shifts around a little nervously at first, but he manages to give the ball a decent whack and he just manages to slide into 1st base, his hands raised in victory. Cheers from students and teachers alike follow him. His wide grin almost makes me want to root for the teachers. Almost.

Towards the end of the game the students begin to rack up the majority of runs. Trying to dig her team out of defeat, Leonard sets up to the plate, jaw clenched, fists wrapped tightly around the bat. She fails to hit the first ball.
“Let’s hope her headband ain’t lyin’,” Santore chuckles.
Leonard throws her a mean look before hitting the ball on her second try and running all the way to second!

New mom, Jamie. Duck, social studies, is the next one to step up to the plate. “Mama up to bat!” Santore says. “Look at that stance, she knows what she’s doin’!” And she does, Duck squats over the plate, determination burning in her eyes. She gives the balls a solid swing, but ends up getting out on 1st base.

Students end up taking the title of reigning champions on the softball field. The score is 16 to 11 for the students! As the two teams join and high five, I can’t help but think that everyone who goes to a school like this that emphasizes community so greatly, is a winner.

Still, in Santore’s words: “Maybe teachers should just stick to teaching.”