The Probation DV-Unit/Suffolk County DA’s Office DV unit had a great outing at the Battle of the Bags Kickball for a Cause tournament. I must say when we were first invited to join up with the ADA’s team my expectations for our success were measured.  The rumor was that the Sheriff’s Department had try-outs for their team.  When we arrived, we noticed that our team was in a play in bracket against the Nassau County Sheriff’s Department.  My confidence started to rise, after Pat Donahue shared that after watching Nassau warm-up, Arturo Salvador said “I like our chances against this team”. His statement proved to be prophetic as we ended up beating their squad 6 to 5.  As this was a “play in game” it was limited to 20 minutes or 5 innings.  Next came the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department (the reigning champions).  Since they were the reigning champions, they claimed the Probation/DA’s team dugout forcing us to move.  This game was to be 30 minutes or 5 innings.  This game was a defensive struggle and at 30 minutes the score was knotted up 3 to 3 so we had to play the 5th and final inning.  Our team scored a run at the beginning of the fifth inning, then played great defense defeating the reigning champion Sheriffs 4 to 3 and advancing to the finals.  The finals would find our team playing the SCPD team (many of the players may not have been born when we were beginning our careers here at Probation).  This team was fresh having defeated the NYPD 7 to 0 in an earlier match-up with our game going to “extra-innings”. The finals would be 7 innings.  Having to play our way into the finals, coupled with the SCPD squad’s youth and fresh legs proved to be too much for our team as we lost to them 8 to 0 (a moral victory considering the score of the SCPD vs. NYPD game).

 The entire Probation team contributed to this effort.  Deb Danielsson and Jen Langley were the number one and two kickers in our first game against Nassau Sheriffs.  Lauren Anderson ordered great shirts for us to wear. She also engaged in some pre- and post-game trash talk with Sheriff Toulon, thankfully we backed it up and he was a good sport. Allison Maffei made some great offensive contributions; she was the master of the “bunt kick” which she followed up with some quick baserunning.  Pat Donahue had both offensive and defensive contributions with great catches for outs in centerfield and a high on base percentage.  Arturo Salvador was our very own Derek Jeter, playing shortstop nearly every inning of all three games making both offensive and defensive contributions. Even the ADAs would have to agree that he was the MVP of the team.  Whereas I may have made some contributions both offensively and defensively, I was responsible for the final out of the championship game- an inexcusable base running error.  Many thanks to our family members who came out to support our team. Special thanks to Wendy Donahue and Jeff Anderson for all the great pictures.  Thanks to Matt Porter for coming out to support the team.  This was a great event, a great time with great sportsmanship. We have already secured a spot for our own Probation team at next year’s event so be looking for a recruiting email and practice schedule late next summer.

MORE PICTURES ARE AVAILABLE IN THE PHOTO GALLERY.