Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), who played third base most of the night, was named the most valuable player.
The GOP won the annual congressional baseball game on June 11, beating the Democrats, 13–2, and extending their winning streak to five games.
Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas), who played third base most of the night, was named the most valuable player.
Pfluger made a spectacular play in the top of the first inning, diving on the ground for the ball and diving to third base to get the third out as the Democrats, whose average team age was 50, failed to take advantage of a solid start with loaded bases.
Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) pitched most of the game for the GOP, whose average team age was 54, and got seven strikeouts. Rep. Chris DeLuzio (D-Pa.) pitched for the Democrats and had two strikeouts.
Ahead of the game, players talked about the keys to winning the game, which sold more than 31,000 tickets and raised more than $2.8 million for charity.
“Hitting and pitching, those are the two secret sauces that we really try to give attention to,” Rep. Don Davis (D-N.C.) told The Epoch Times.
“There’s no substitute to just getting out there, getting good batting practices in, get scrimmages, to get the live feel of the games,” he continued. “So we’ve really been focused on hitting and also our pitching.”
Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.) told reporters that the key to his team winning would be “strong pitching.”
“We got to play this good defense. Get the out,” he said. “Don’t throw the ball around, don’t let them get extra bases, and just get the out.”
There were no injuries on either side during the game.
The annual game has traditionally been an opportunity for Republicans and Democrats to set aside differences.
But for Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas), who was drafted into the MLB but didn’t play in the majors, it is a rivalry.
“The game is, everybody says it’s nonpartisan, but it is partisan. So it’ll be just like everything else,” he said.
“We’re trying to score more runs than they score, and we want to win. They want to win,” he continued. “It’s going to be hard-fought, and I think that we got a good chance to keep our record victories going.”
