It’s a humid sunny day in Oklahoma City at Devon Park. The sun shines from the northwest corner of OGE Energy Field, with shade covering a part of the third baseline. It’s the home of USA Softball and the pinnacle of what college softball stands for. Some of the sport’s greatest athletes have etched their names in history with performances here. Now, it’s a different set of athletes' turn.
Spectators and Special Olympics softball teams from across the United States fill the stands as the Special Olympics Oklahoma Fighting Peacocks and the USA Patriots kick off the Special Olympics North America Softball Championship with a high-level exhibition game. Cheers roar from the seats. Athletes can be heard yelling chants of encouragement. After a 13-year hiatus, the event is back in Oklahoma City.
“It’s an honor,” Michael Wolfe, the Peacocks' first base coach, said about playing at such an iconic venue. “It’s an honor we get to come to these fields that not everybody gets to play [on]. I’m glad we’ve got it in our home state.”
The game showcases slow-pitch softball between the Patriots, a team of military veterans who have endured traumatic injuries during their service, and the Fighting Peacocks, a Special Olympics Unified Sports® team comprised of elite athletes with and without intellectual disabilities.
Through three innings, the Patriots had taken a 6-2 lead. But the Fighting Peacocks quickly responded with runners on first and second base, earning an RBI, followed by a pair of runs, narrowing the deficit to one. But, during the middle of the fourth inning, the Patriots found their rhythm and never looked back. They had solid hits and clear communication with clean ball movement. Every time something went their way, the Patriots built off of it, letting the momentum surge.
“It’s always tough, especially when you have that close game at the start,” Saul Monroy, a Patriots player, said about having a tight game and being able to pull away near the end. “Staying positive always changes the outcome. Once you make one good play, I like to think that one base hit is a trickle effect. You’re always going to get better from there.”
For the remainder of the game, the teams engaged in an exciting battle, showcasing the skill and athleticism of both teams. Even though the score was 11-6 in favor of the Patriots by the fifth inning, the Fighting Peacocks continued to play a solid game in the outfield, but the Patriots capitalized on a handful of in-field errors by the Peacocks. During the next two innings, the Patriots continued to score consistently, and while the Peacocks were never out of the game, they fought from a deficit that proved to be too much. The Patriots won the ball game 15-9.
Wolfe knows the Patriots are an excellent team, but emphasizes that the Peacocks are too. He and his teammates refuse to let one game derail them from their goals. The last time the tournament was held in Oklahoma, the Fighting Peacocks placed third. It was their first time attending, and they hadn’t built up the expectations or set standards. They know what their vision is, and they’re ready to chase winning a title in their home state.
“We enjoy this, our partners enjoy this, our athletes enjoy it and us coaches enjoy coaching these guys,” Wolfe said.
