Coed Softball
So I am playing in a coed softball league on Tuesday nights with Scripps Networks whom I am interning some for. We played our fourth game last night to improve to 3-1 but it brings me to discuss something about coed softball. It's really dangerous. Take our league for example. You have to have five guys and five girls on the field at the same time. And they have to be split evenly, such as two and two in the outfield and also the infield, and the one and one at pitcher/catcher. Most teams that I have seen usually will put the two guys infielders at SS and 3B. This is where I really think it can be the most dangerous. Having played both short and third in this league, when I catch the ball and throw it to first, I don't think about who is standing on first. I catch the ball and then throw it hard or not depending on the runner. This is the part that scares me. You have a guy or girl running down the first base line with no helmet, a guy throwing the ball hard or possibly really hard from SS or 3B, and a girl catching it at 1st. Now, there are some girls that play that are really good and I support them being out there. But there are also some that shouldn't be out there.
Case in point, in our first game of the year, there were two girls hurt in the game, one worse than the other. A girl on our team was struck in the shoulder running down to first by an errant throw from 3B. Two inches higher and she would have been drilled in the head. Could a guy have caught that ball? Maybe, maybe not. That's also a call for helmets in softball, but that's a whole other post. The other girl got the worst end. I was playing third and a ball was hit to LF. She is heading to 3B and I am covering the bag, as the throw comes in, it is low, and goes past me to the pitcher backing me up. The girl rounds the bag, and the pitcher tries to throw back to me to tag her out. Long story short, I couldn't get even close to the ball to protect her, and it hits her in the cheek. The first inning of the first game, and there is already a major injury. This just goes to show how dangerous a coed game can be.
Like I said before, there are lots of girls out there that are plenty capable of being out there on that field with the guys. I just hope its those that possibly shouldn't be that understand the risk they put themselves at when they step onto the field. In my opinion, softball might be the most dangerous coed game to play. It's hard to control something, such as a ball, when it's flying through the air. Most other sports, body control is used to protect a girl, but in softball, it's not really about body control, but more about ball control. And the ball can get away from even the best players.
Case in point, in our first game of the year, there were two girls hurt in the game, one worse than the other. A girl on our team was struck in the shoulder running down to first by an errant throw from 3B. Two inches higher and she would have been drilled in the head. Could a guy have caught that ball? Maybe, maybe not. That's also a call for helmets in softball, but that's a whole other post. The other girl got the worst end. I was playing third and a ball was hit to LF. She is heading to 3B and I am covering the bag, as the throw comes in, it is low, and goes past me to the pitcher backing me up. The girl rounds the bag, and the pitcher tries to throw back to me to tag her out. Long story short, I couldn't get even close to the ball to protect her, and it hits her in the cheek. The first inning of the first game, and there is already a major injury. This just goes to show how dangerous a coed game can be.
Like I said before, there are lots of girls out there that are plenty capable of being out there on that field with the guys. I just hope its those that possibly shouldn't be that understand the risk they put themselves at when they step onto the field. In my opinion, softball might be the most dangerous coed game to play. It's hard to control something, such as a ball, when it's flying through the air. Most other sports, body control is used to protect a girl, but in softball, it's not really about body control, but more about ball control. And the ball can get away from even the best players.
posted by Big Bentley at 8:59 AM
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