Oklahoma congressional staffers hit the diamond for summer softball on the National Mall

The ‘Okla Home Runs’ is a team that plays in the Congressional Softball League. It is comprised of current and former staffers from Oklahoma’s seven congressional offices.

During the summer, the team plays, generally, one night per week against teams representing other state congressional delegations. The games are played on the National Mall.

At a game Thursday night, members of the Oklahoma team talked about why they enjoy participating:

Matthew Brownlee, former staffer for Markwayne Mullin

“it's fun to come and be out here in the summertime and play some softball…the summers (in Washington) are oppressive, the heat is rough. but today we have a beautiful day and it's a good day to have fun out here on the Mall..,it's a good time to have fun with other staff. You meet a lot of other staff from other offices that you might not interact with.., they put me in a third base coach occasionally, I just root for people to go home.”

Morgan Money, Director of Scheduling, Sen. Markwayne Mullin

“I am the assistant coach this year for the Okla Home Runs and I was volun-told for this position. But I'm excited to be here…I play every once in a while when I'm forced to, but being the scorekeeper is a lot more fun. We're pretty good, but we're here just to have fun—that’s what I like to tell all the guys that are super competitive. We're just out here to have a good time and represent Oklahoma. And that's what we're doing.”

Payton Martin Staff Assistant, Sen. Markwayne Mullin

“Chandler said you're going to pitch, I said, okay, I've never pitched before. Really never before…I think it's going pretty good. We haven't let too many runs score, so I would call that almost a win. We're getting there…This is my first year playing softball for Okla Home Runs. It's super fun because we're just able to get out and create a community beyond work and meet fellow Oklahomans that maybe don't work in the office with us, but have Oklahoma ties somehow…It's so fun. I mean, it doesn't get much better than this with the views. So yeah, we're very lucky.”