For the seventh straight year, the CMU softball and wrestling teams met for their annual charity softball game. The softball team pulled out a 3-1 win over the wrestlers at Bergman Field on Wednesday night.
“It started in 2007, and it’s just been a tradition ever since that. We try to get food for Kids Aid Backpack Program,” softball coach Candace Abrams said.
Free hot dogs were given out to anyone who brought non-perishable food to donate.
The Backpack Program’s main purpose is to provide children with food so they don’t go hungry on the weekends. With the help of Canyon View Vineyard Church, Kids Aid serves students in Mesa County School District 51.
Both teams were excited to face off for such a good cause.
“It’s good to see kids get that much and that we’re able to give back,” senior softball pitcher Jessica Severinsen said. “They need it more than we do.”
After Severinsen hit a solo home run to give her team a 1-0 lead in the second, the team managed to get two more runs in the inning. The next inning, the wrestlers scored their one and only run of the game to make the score 3-1.
To make the game a little more even, the softball team had their pitchers pitch for both the wresting team and their own, while the umpire for the game was assistant baseball coach Sean McKinney.
Even though the game was for charity, the softball team knew they couldn’t slack off and give the wrestlers the satisfaction of beating them.
“We’re still working on things,” Abrams said. We’re still trying to get better.”
The rest of the game was all fun and smiles for both teams. The wresting team sent four players onto the outfield in their singlets to try to distract the softball team.
“It’s good for us getting to know the softball team,” wrestling head coach Chuck Pipher said. “It’s all fun.”
The softball team doesn’t start their season until February, while the wrestling team has a scrimmage on Oct. 30 in Brownson Arena at 7 p.m.
To find out more about the cause, or to make a donation, visit www.kidsaidcolorado.org.

almahan@mavs.coloradomesa.edu