Good weather allows intramural softball season to start

By Kyle Blaikie
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

When Ricky Molina and his "Golfballaz'" take the field, they are not just playing to have a good time and stay in shape. The "Golfballaz'" play to win.

Molina's team consists of sophomores that were in Golf Company last year as freshmen, and they like to stick together and hang out on the softball diamond during the Balls and Bats softball tournament.

Although late in the school year, the annual Balls and Bats softball tournament has started, and teams are going to be playing for the last two weeks of school, according to Norwich students.

"Due to the winter season, this season is starting late in the year," said Dr. Chandler Stowell, director of student activities and recreational sports.

"Whether we will get a good turnout or not, I am not sure," Stowell said. "We are in the last few weeks of classes, and it gets hectic around here with professors. It's crunch time; they are going to give [students] tests and term papers."

Aezed Raza, 25, a senior computer science major from Portola Valley, CA, the S-5 officer in charge of student activities and intramural sports for the corps of cadets, said that last year "we had trouble, because we didn't have any grass."

Though the season is starting late, students are excited about the tournament.

"I think that it's going to be tough with academics, but it's going to be a stress reliever at the end of the year with finals," said Joseph Puchalski, 21, a junior business management major from Rutland, VT.

Students are not just playing softball to relax during finals week. The Golfballaz are extremely competitive.

Ricky Molina, 20, a sophomore business management and mathematics major from Roswell, New Mexico, said that his team is going to "go all the way." His team, the Golfballaz, are "looking forward to getting some competition and physical fitness," he said.

According to Stowell, in years past every member of the team paid five dollars. However, this year's price has dropped to twenty-five dollars for one whole team.

Half of the money raised goes to the Dana Farber association, a cancer research center in Boston, Stowell said.

Brian Wood, 20, a sophomore business management major from Frederick, MD, said that when his team wins, "the Golfballaz are going to bring in some good money for the cancer research center."

With the funds going to cancer research, some say there should be more students playing and that it should even be mandatory.

"If they forced people to do [intramurals], students will enjoy them and want to play on their own," said Aida Martinez, 20, a junior political science major from Ocala FL.

Puchalski agrees with Martinez.

Puchalski, who runs physical training (PT) for third battalion in the corps, said that people would enjoy intramurals more than boring PT. "I think that people would want to play a sport instead of pushups and sit-ups."

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