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Police, firefighters wage battle with bats
DFRA steals win in baseball game, earn bragging rights
Herald Staff Writer
Video by ERIC DRUMMOND/Herald
Click image to enlarge
Photo by GREG THOMAS/Special to the Herald
Curt Larson of Durango Fire & Rescue Authority gets the forceout as Cpl. Matt Taylor of Durango Police Department tries to beat the throw during the “Battle of the Badges” softball game Saturday at the La Plata County Fairgrounds.
And according to police and fire officials, a good time was had by all.
... what it comes down to is that the police and firemen respect one another. When we get out there in the streets ... we're all watching each other's backs and taking care of each other.
- DFRA Chief Dan Noonan
"Things really came together. It was a real nice cooperative effort," said Capt. Micki Browning, whose dispatches to the news media don't typically come from behind a grill.
The tight game ended when officer Tyler Becker popped out to left-center field, leaving two men aboard, and Durango's firefighters earned a year's worth of bragging rights with the final score of 9-6. They also became the first ever Battle of the Badges champs, as last year's game ended 13-13 in extra innings.
It was all DPD except for an explosive error-plagued, 8-run fifth inning for DFRA. A long rally of singles brought the firefighters back from a 3-0 deficit to take the lead.
DFRA pitcher Tommy Ro-mero got the win, and a huge strikeout in the ninth with one out. Officer Jeff Tipton, who had been clutch with several nice plays at short and a big RBI double in the third to score Tom Boyce and Brad Roach and advance Alex Hutchinson, bit on a knuckleball with one out.
Hardly surprising, fire crews handled the grill, and it was mainly police who took heat in the dunk tank. In keeping with the light mood, Capt. Jim Spratlen, acting chief in Chief David Felice's stead, even wore pastel-blue Converse All-Stars and a Hawaiian shirt, as he dispersed gentle insults.
"Why don't firefighters look out the window in the morning?" he asked from the announcer's booth. "Because they'd have nothing to do in the afternoon."
DFRA Chief Dan Noonan brought up the sore subject of spelling, which has provided joke fodder for firefighters since the police team shirts last year featured a misprint.
"Ask the cops how to spell 'hero,'" he said with a laugh, and then offered a caveat.
"But what it comes down to is that the police and firemen respect each other. When we get out there in the streets and it's the heat of the battle, whatever it is, a car accident or a fire, we're all watching each other's backs and taking care of each other."
With local businesses donating the use of all the game's equipment, firefighter and event organizer Ray Godfrey, wearing a large straw hat, said every penny raised at the game will go to facilitating care for child cancer patients and their families.
"We have a great turnout. I'm overwhelmed. I know Cindi (Shank) is going to be thrilled. This is a great payoff," he said.
"No drugs or alcohol - you can't beat that."
Home plate umpire Conrad Chavez has 35 years experience officiating baseball games. He said he hears a bit of abuse from the other guys in blue, but no more than any other teams.
"People get excited and do things they shouldn't," he said. "Sooner or later, it's human nature. You get caught in the moment, and things happen. You leave a base early or run into somebody.
"These guys in law enforcement, they have a lot of fun. They play hard."
This year, the match proceeds again went to local nonprofit Country Kids with Cancer, an outfit founded in 2004 by Cindi Shank, whose daughter, Sarah, battled Ewing's sarcoma since 2001. Her group currently is working with four child cancer patients in the area.
Shank was unable to attend the game because she was helping Sarah move into her college dorm in Oklahoma, her daughter's cancer no longer a threat. Reached by phone, the executive director of the Southwest Colorado Red Cross said she was thankful for the support of the city's fire and police crews.
"This is something that people don't like to talk about," Shank said. "Some people might think that (cancer) is something that doesn't affect kids in Southwest Colorado. But it does. This will make a huge difference."
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