SLIDESHOW: Church league slowpitch strikes up fellowship

A little prayer never hurts Friday night on the fields at Enumclaw’s Boise Creek Sixplex. That’s when the Enumclaw Parks and Recreation’s coed church slowpitch league takes place.

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A little prayer never hurts Friday night on the fields at Enumclaw’s Boise Creek Sixplex. That’s when the Enumclaw Parks and Recreation’s coed church slowpitch league takes place.

According Michelle Larson, recreation manager for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, 11 teams play in the 10-game summer season. The double-headers are always scheduled for Friday evening.

“The league is designed for church groups to come out and enjoy fun competition and fellowship,” Larson said.

That’s exactly what they do.

“We play hard and have fun,” the Rev. Dan Duncan of Enumclaw’s Hillside Community Church said.

Larson said the league has been going strong for more than 10 years and always has 10 to 12 teams from churches in Enumclaw, Puyallup and Bonney Lake. Jim Warren, coach of the Church of the Nazarene, and former USSSA (United States Slowpitch Softball Association) Umpire in Chief, helps out in a big way by creating the call-your-own umpire schedule each year, she said.

The defending champions are from Enumclaw Sacred Heart Church.

“They always provide good competition for the other teams, and it’s rare for them to lose a game,” Larson said.

At the end of the season, the top three teams receive a trophy to display at their church, and the champion team receives T-shirts.