The 2019 College of Charleston Faculty/Staff Summer Softball League season has come to a close, with the Athletics Cougarsharks taking the crown at the championship tournament on Monday, July 15, 2019.
The Cougarsharks, comprised of employees of the CofC Athletics Department, were undefeated and the No. 1 seed team going into the finals. They captured the title by forfeit when only five members of the Wild Cougars, a team of free agents from across campus, were able to make it to Patriots Point for the game.
“The story would probably end here if this was a normal league, but this is the College of Charleston Faculty and Staff League, and forfeits in our league are not as fruitless as they are outside the CofC softball field,” says Freddie Lipata, assistant director of Campus Recreation Services (CRS) and coordinator for the summer softball league, explaining that some of the Cougarsharks players joined the Wild Cougars for a fun, friendly game. Still, the Cougarsharks won. “If there was ever any question of them earning the championship after the forfeit decision, this win cemented their worthiness of displaying the trophy in their office for the next year.”
Congratulations to all the members of the champion Athletics team: Greylin Cleary, Kyle Denzel, Chris Gongora, Quentin Mullen, Nate Place, (and pictured above, left to right) Matt Creeron, Ben Clemens, Thomas Woelfel, Scott Yelle, Andy Russo, Tanner Morris (team captain), Richard Bouknight (seated), Derek Davis and Megan Spellman.
In the end, however, Lipata says all the players on all the teams were winners.
“The main goal of this program is to provide faculty and staff members with a way to interact with their fellow College of Charleston family members in a fun environment,” says Lipata, who played with the Wild Cougars team this season and credits CRS director Gene Sessoms with starting the faculty/staff softball program in 2011. “If I did not play on the Wild Cougars or help run this program for Mr. Sessoms and Campus Recreation Services, there are a lot of people who I might not have been able to meet. Their faces would have remained nameless as I pass them around campus – or, even worse: They might have stayed just names I see in my emails or in Yammer posts! Win or lose – or even forfeit – I am always happy to be here.”
Four teams competed in the softball tournament this season. The 2020 season is expected to begin in mid-May. Up next is Faculty and Staff Bowling, set to begin in October 2019 with games on Friday nights at Ashley Lanes in West Ashley. For information about starting or joining a team or taking advantage of what CRS has to offer for faculty and staff, contact Freddie Lipata.
