Sports
5th Annual Kids & Kubs vs. City Hall Softball Game
The City Hall Stars win their first game against the senior St. Pete sluggers. It's been a long month for all of us, so it was good to get out and enjoy what makes St. Petersburg great,' Mayor Foster said.
Local politicians were celebrating Saturday afternoon at North Shore Park as the City Hall Stars softball squad finally defeated St. Petersburg’s world-renowned senior softball team, the Kids & Kubs, by a score of 25-19.
But it wasn’t the score of the game that was important, nor the fact that the city team, composed of councilors, city officials and Mayor Bill Foster, beat the 75+ team for the first time since the series began in 2007.
The most important thing that came out of this spectacular St. Petersburg afternoon was that everyone got a chance to think about something else after three fatal shootings of police officers in less than a month.
Find out what's happening in St. Petefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
“We need to breathe, we need to exercise, we need to get out,” Mayor Foster said before the game. “We need to get rid of some of these bad feelings.”
Although the mayor’s squad was eager to win from the start, scoring 13 runs in the first three innings to build a sizeable lead, the Kids & Kubs, led by outgoing President Andy Devine, would not go down without a fight.
Find out what's happening in St. Petefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Cries of “We’re gonna win” and “We got them right where we want them” could be heard from the seniors’ bench during the game, and sure enough the Kubs came back, cutting the politico’s lead to a mere one run, 16-15, by the eighth and final inning.
Asked how they were able to mount such a comeback, 77-year-old K&K player Joe Lisanti said “All they got on us is good legs!”
Alas the comeback fell short when the City Hall Stars scored nine runs in the eighth inning, and shortly after, Devine had to concede the winner’s trophy to the mayor’s squad.
“I’m crying. If you hear about a suicide today in Seminole, you’ll know who it is,” the 85-year-old World War II veteran joked afterwards as he clutched his beloved trophy before passing it to Mayor Foster.
At least we think he was joking.
“We had a good eighth inning, we were up by one so all we wanted was some insurance,” the Mayor said after the win. “The curse is broken!”
Regarding the healing process that began to take place today, Foster was emotional.
“It’s been a long month for all of us, so it was good to get out and enjoy what makes St. Petersburg great.”
