Softball team reaches out

It was with some apprehension that we approached the gate at Grafton Correctional Institution’s farm, ball gloves in hand and wearing our Church of the Saviour softball shirts. Some of us did not know what to expect.

What would the inmates be like? Would they try to intimidate us? If so, how should we respond? I was not the only one thinking this way as we drove across town one recent Saturday morning and pulled into the prison lot off route 83 in Lorain County.

For some of the Saviour softballers it was their second time around, having lost a double-header at Grafton’s main prison earlier in the year. For the rest of us it was new experience.

Our opponents this time were part of a work-release program. During the day they took care of the surrounding farm, which includes a herd of beef cattle.

But make no mistake. It was a prison, evidenced by the high fences topped by razor-sharp concertina wire. We had to pass through a metal detector before heading into the prison, leaving behind cell phones, keys and the like.

We paused in the visiting area, where inmates sat at tables with their loved ones. The flat-panel television was tuned to a children’s station. A sheet painted to look like a tropical paradise provided a faux backdrop for family photos.

We walked through a recreation room, then out onto the field. Maybe 40 to 50 inmates milled about. One of them marked the base paths with white chalk. Another dragged the infield to make it smoother. These guys seemed serious.

We took batting practice. Someone hit a screamer to me at third that went off my glove and through my legs. I heard an inmate say they had found our weak spot. Both teams gathered at home plate for a quick prayer. Someone asked who the home team was. “We are always the home team,” a prisoner joked.

The game began just like any other – hard hitting, good fielding, frequent praise for a good play. But the skies threatened to spoil our fun.

It was 3-3 in the top of the third inning when it began to pour. We took shelter up against the prison building, huddling shoulder-to-shoulder with the prisoners.

While we waited, an inmate due to be released the next day decided to entertain everybody by sliding on his belly down the muddy third base line. Next thing we knew, he was joined by two other inmates and Saviour players Jeff Masters and Andy Kordlawksi.

Although the rain stopped, the game was called because the field was too wet. Everybody seemed disappointed. The inmates thanked us for coming. We shook a few hands and said we would be back.

And we will be back, on September 19. Meanwhile, Brian Broadbent may have recruited a new ball player. He invited one of the inmates (due to be released in two months) to come to church when he gets out, and to play with one of the Saviour teams next year.

Now, that is outreach!

Pete Krouse