Sarah Walsh '23
Staff Editor
With the UVA Law Softball Invitational wrapped up for the year, Production Editor extraordinaire Sai Kulkarni ’23 has asked me to write about my experience with softball at this school. Given how much time I already spend talking about this topic, I happily said yes. If you know me, you know that I love softball and will take almost every opportunity I get to play. During my 1L spring semester, I once Zoomed into class from my phone—which I then left with a friend in the dugout, telling her to yell for me if my professor started cold calling—just so that I could play for a team that I wasn’t even on.[1] Ultimately, my contribution in that game was exactly one groundout and literally nothing else, so the question is: Was it worth effectively skipping class for? Absolutely. It was the chance to hang out with my friends and enjoy some sunny weather after spending a miserable February trapped indoors, agonizing over journal tryouts and my LRW brief—of course it was worth it.
For all the mosquito bites and bruises I’ve suffered because of softball (of which there have been many), there have been more than enough moments that have continued to make playing worth it. Moments like Cooper Lewis ’24 yelling, “Hose him!” while Jon Peterson ’23, Andrew Becker ’24, and Jack Brown ’23 completed an MLB-worthy relay to get the runner out at home during the first §A & Pals game of the semester.[2] Or like Jon and Jacob Mitchell ’23 hitting back-to-back homers in the first §A & Pals game of last semester.[3] Even little, unremarkable moments, like sitting in the dugout or standing on base and just getting to talk to people that I haven’t seen in a while, have kept me coming out to the field week after week.
Pictured: The Section A and Pals Team
I recognize that there are some of you who think it’s dumb to care about Law School softball, or at least to care about it enough to basically skip class for it. After all, it’s not like winning a game will in any way advance my career or make my GPA any higher. To that I say…yeah, fair enough. I’d like to note, however, that I could be way more intense about softball—after all, it’s not like I’m out here wearing batting gloves during my games.[4] That’s beside the point, though. Because of softball, I get to have a couple hours each week to get outside, be with my friends, and play a game that I love. Personally, I don’t think it’s dumb to care about something that gives me those couple of hours where I can forget about the constant stress that is law school. And if you do think that’s dumb, well, I probably won’t be able to hear your criticisms over Cooper yelling from the dugout, anyway.
On a slightly more serious note, I should also mention that I have softball to thank for some of my closest friendships and favorite memories from my time at this school. While my 1L section didn’t really play a lot of softball,[5] I was lucky enough to have friends who did and who invited me to play with their teams. Without the invitation to be one of the “& Pals” for §A & Pals, I never would have gotten the chance to chat with Jack and Parker Kelly ’23 while warming up before games. As a result, I wouldn’t have ended up writing for Libel with Jack or going on a road trip with him and Parker to attend a World Series game this past fall,[6] two of the best experiences I’ve had as a law student. Yes, these are technically experiences that I had only as an indirect result of softball, and I’m not saying that playing in a couple softball games will guarantee you new best friends, the chance to write your professor into a Libel sketch with the specific purpose of making your friend cry-laugh on stage, or a trip to see your hometown team play in the World Series. What I am saying is that UVA Law softball has been a pretty great experience with even better teammates, and I’m excited to see what else it has to offer, both on and off the field.
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saw8rc@virginia.edu
[1] Before the administration can get on me about this, huge disclaimer: please don’t follow my example.
[2] “Peak moment in my life” – Jack
[3] “The J&J Section A Special” – also Jack
[4] No disrespect to those of you who do wear batting gloves. Y’all terrify me, and I’d like to politely request that you never hit a ball anywhere near me.
[5] By which I mean we played in one scrimmage game that—in a fun turn of events—was against the team that I now co-captain.
[6] Go Braves