The Drive w/ Charlie & Dan Join Local Police & Fire Fighters for Softball & Fun

Last Saturday, the nice people at Top Level Athletics invited Dan and I got to be part of a softball game between the Wynantskill Fire Department and a combination team of the Rensselaer and North Greenbush Police Departments at DevilCats Stadium in Troy.

The Wyantskill Fire Department got the services of the younger of The Drive dou and Dan made some nice plays. It was an awesome game filled with a ton of laughs and great fun. There was even a special presentation by the Wynantskill Fire Department to their first responder brethren, the Rensselaer and North Greenbush Police Departments. It was two boxes of Dunkin' Donuts. I have to admit I laughed pretty hard all day.

A big thank you to Officer Matthew Peasley of the North Greenbush Police Department for taking and sharing these awesome photos with us.

This may seem like it was a friendly game but both sides wanted to win!

Many of the fireman and police officers were former high school athletes.

Games like this are terrific reminders that our first responders are first and foremost our friends and neighbors. They all have wonderful families and should be always be treated with respect. They have a job to do and often that job involves situations that are not easy. We can all do our part by helping our first responders do their jobs.

That is Officer Murphy on the mound. He pitched the entire game and hit a bomb. He had an awesome sense of humor. Trust me, I wish I remembered more of my teammates names. They were very funny and extremely kind. We truly hope they invite us back. Top Level Athletics has a great new indoor facility, so Dan and I will be practicing for next year!

No this isn't at Yankee Stadium but that's a pretty nice swing!

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I may be biased because I was on the Police Department team, I thought we were the better defensive team!

It was a huge honor for The Drive with Charlie & Dan to be included in this event. We both have tremendous respect for all police officers and firefighters and to be on the field hanging around with them was terrific.

Though it seemed like it might be a runaway early by the Police team by the Fire Department came storming back to tie the score, through what seemed like creative math by the WFD. But the Police team scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 6th inning and prevailed in the end.

We want to give a special thank you to Ryan Ruddy of Top Level Athletics for inviting us. We also want to thank the Wynantskill Fire Department, the North Greenbush and Rensselaer Police Departments, our buddy Chrissy Cavotta from WGNA and everyone that made the event so great. Thanks and we look forward to the rematch!