Maybe you’ve heard of them: the Krazy Pitches. They’re a women’s softball team in the DMV. Like many things, though, this sports team is more than it seems. It’s actually a family of strong and empowered women who support each other on their journeys.
Chesapeake and Potomac Softball (CAPS) is dedicated to coordinating and promoting athletics and sportsmanship for members of the LGBT community, including their supporters, in the greater Washington, DC, area; Baltimore; and Northern Virginia and even as far as West Virginia. There are thirty-four teams, including women’s and co-ed open divisions, with coaches and twenty players to each team roster.
The Krazy Pitches is one of the three DC-based traveling teams in the women’s division that competes in the annual national championship, the ASANA Softball World Series. This year, they head to Long Beach, California, to compete August 27 through August 31. Last year, DC Swag won the championship.
The Krazy Pitches 2018
This year, the Krazy Pitches go fully prepared, thanks to Ray Gernhart’s sponsorship. (Check out the team’s travel jerseys!) His first sponsorship provided Magic Tournament T-shirts for almost a thousand players from teams all over the tri-state area (Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland), as well as swag bags for players and coaches. The Krazy Pitches are nine for nine in the current season. Who’s to say how they’ll fare at the 2019 ASANA Softball World Series? Whatever the results, though, it is an incredibly significant and empowering event for the team and for the LGBQT community.
Falen LaPonzina, a Ray Gernhart Associate real estate agent and veterans’ legal advocate, explains.
“Being able to go out every week, play softball, and be exactly who you are is an incredible feeling. Our roster is always full. We are a very inclusive, supportive, and accepting group, where people are not marginalized by their sexuality, and they can excel in softball.”
That is exactly why Ray Gernhart supports the CAPS league and the Krazy Pitches team.
“It has been part of my personal and professional mission for over thirty years, my whole life really, to support the LGBQT community. Falen is an important champion for the LGBQT community, for veterans, for our customers, and for our team as well. So, I was more than happy to support the Krazy Pitches because it’s important.”
The Krazy Pitches annual calendar includes a preseason from March to April, as well as weekly practices with other women’s teams at different fields around the DC area. When the season begins, there is a double header every Sunday, which culminates in an end-of-season tournament and the ASANA Softball World Series.
Photo Credit: Tagg Magazine
The team does so much more together than softball, such as attending happy hour on Friday nights, roller-skating, tubing, white water rafting, camping, and hitting at the batting cages.
The sense of community is the reason the women on the Krazy Pitches team are so closely bonded together.
“They have become my chosen family,” Falen shares. “We all grow together individually and as a team year after year.”
Falen also wants to let members of the LGBQT community know they are not alone.
“There are people who love you and support you. If you love sports, this is a safe space to be and to meet new people.”
