Dawn Johnson

It is safe to say that spring has finally arrived. Sun, skimpy clothing and barbeques are back again. Jackrabbit students go outside and soak up the nice weather, because the second big intramural season is here – softball.

Intramural Co-Rec softball is the largest of all intramurals played at SDSU, with fall’s flag-football a close second. This year, 92 teams comprised of approximately 1132 students, roughly one-tenth of the entire SDSU student population, are participating in softball. Since 2005, the number of softball participants has risen by 250.

Each week, teams play Sunday through Friday from 3:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The games are held at the City Complex Diamonds.

The softball season began on April 8. If the weather cooperates, Intramural Coordinator Mark Ekeland said he expects the championship to be played the week before finals.

Golf may be fun for some, but what gets a lot of people going is being out on that diamond, with nothing but friends, green grass, blue skies and swatting an inside pitch right over third base.

Intramural softball is in full force. It is not like typical summer ball, highly contested and usually unisex, but rather Co-Rec softball is where you want to perform well and look good doing it. Teams like BYOB (bring your own beer), Balls Deep III (deep into the outfield) and The Spartans (the Greeks can hit) run wild.

They come from everywhere and bring their own aspirations to the field every week. Some come to win, others are just out there for fun and exercise.

“My favorite part of softball would be the fact that you get to meet new people,” said Nathan Paul, a junior engineering major.

Softball also leaves many with memories.

“One of my favorite memories was hitting an inside-the-park homer in our last game and when one of my teammates purposely threw the ball out of the field over the umpire’s head because we were winning by a lot,” said pre-law junior Jenny Sondreal.

Paul said, “I remember trying to throw a guy out at home and I hit him in the leg. I felt bad but he must have felt even worse after he got hit in the side pitching later on.”