Battle of the Badge Game raises an estimated $3,000 for Boys & Girls Club
Moses Lake Police Department runner Kevin Fuhr beats the throw into third base as fire department third baseman Mark Graham tries to make the play during Thursday night's Battle of the Badge softball game at Larson Playfield. The police and fire departments raised an estimated $3,000 for the Boys & Girls Club of the Columbia Basin.
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="74571138-62fa-11e6-91bc-5f5cd24f9884"}}
MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Police Department scored in all seven innings, scoring 17 runs on 25 hits, to run away with Thursday night’s second annual Battle of the Badge softball game at Larson Playground.
The police might have evened the series with a 17-9 victory over the fire department, but the real winner was the Boys & Girls Club of the Columbia Basin. Between sponsorship, donations and the concession stand, the game raised an estimated $3,000 for the local Boys & Girls Club.
“Regardless of what we do out there on the street, we work together, not only as police and fire, but we’re teammates. It’s fun to come here and battle against each other, have fun and raise some money for the kids,” said police department MVP Kyle McCain. “It’s nice to see the kids and let them know that we as police are good people and the can come to us at anytime.”
It was a night of good fun. They sang “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” and invited a couple of young ones to race fire department mascot Sparky from centerfield to home plate. The emergency response vehicles were on display in the parking lot. They even played a little Simon Says during an inning break, allowing 25-30 kids down on the field.
“The real winners are the kids. This was for the Boys & Girls Club and all of us fire and police guys wanted to get together and contribute to that,” Jay Morice with the fire department said. “Things like this helps the kids to not be afraid of a uniform. It’s awesome that the kids can see us all working together and playing together.”
The fire department evened the game at 2-2 with two runs in the bottom of the first inning, but that is as close as the defending Battle of the Badge champions would get. The police just kept the hits and the offense coming, extending their lead to 13-2 by the fifth inning.
To the firefighters’ credit, they did chip away with four runs in the bottom half of the fifth and scored three more in the final inning to make it close. Troy Hesse was named the firefighter MVP.
“We wanted to redeem ourselves for last year’s game,” McCain said with a smile.
The fans were loud. The kids enjoyed themselves. Sparky the wonder dog was good for high fives all night, and in the end they raised $3,000 for the children of the Columbia Basin.
They truly are Moses Lake’s finest.