Eagleionline

Earlier this month, BC Law sent one men’s and two co-ed teams to the 25th Annual UVA Law Softball Invitational in Charlottesville. While the teams represented BC well, an individual performance by 2L Dan “Heal-basa” Healy resulted in some hardware making its way back to Beantown.

Give us an overview of the UVA Tournament and the home run derby in particular.
Dan: The UVA Invitational Law School Softball Tournament is the largest gathering of law school softball teams and players in the country. This year there were 112 teams from 49 schools. More than anything else, it’s a chance for law students from around the U.S. to get together for a fun weekend.  Most of the action happens on Saturday, which features games all day, a BBQ, home run derby, and bar review at night.

And it’s all for a good cause too, right?
Dan: They raise a lot of money for a local charity — Children, Youth and Family Services, a Charlottesville-based group that serves at-risk children. A number of law firms and companies such as Westlaw, LexisNexis, and BarBri contribute to sponsor the tournament and this past year resulted in a record donation.

You were on the team last year as well. How tough is it to earn a spot on the roster?
Dan: I wouldn’t say it is particularly difficult to get on the team; after all, this is law school softball, not college baseball.  But I suppose at least a reasonable degree of skill is required if you want to contribute at the tournament.  This year’s team was tougher to make and there were some cuts. Our goal next year is to take everyone who wants to be involved, even those who may not receive much or any playing time; after all, the point of the weekend is to have a good time with your friends.

How did our teams do this year?
Dan: The best showing was by our men’s team.  This was only the second year BC has entered a team in the men’s bracket, and they were 3-0 in pod play (preliminary round) and advanced to the playoffs.  They lost a tough playoff game to George Washington, but we were all very proud of their performance.  We entered two teams in the co-rec bracket. Our “Maroon” team was 2-1 in pod play and won a playoff game before rain shortened the playoffs and forced the organizers to eliminate any teams that did not win their pod.  Our “Gold” team (my team) ended up 1-2, beating the eventual pod winners from Georgetown and losing two heartbreakers on walk-off home runs. 

However, we did leave our stamp on the tournament as far and away the most fun team to play for or against, thanks largely to our team announcer and D.J., Tom “the Bomb” Hernandez.  He brought his portable public address system to the tournament, announced our hitters as they walked to the plate, and played personalized entrance music for each of us - needless to say, he had a lot of fans by tournament’s end.

What was your theme song?
Dan: “Crazy Bitch” by Buckcherry.

So how did you wind up in the home run derby?
Dan: Well, BC has not traditionally competed in the home run derby, as it is usually won by a monster from one of the traditional powerhouses, but last year our captain, Nick Brandt, told me I was welcome to try it if I wanted.  I gave it my best shot, ended up with one home run (frankly, I was just glad I didn’t go 0-fer), and gave BC some respectability in the contest.  This year there was more interest in the derby and some controversy over who would hit, but fortunately my gracious teammates were kind enough to let me give it another shot.  Ultimately, Jorge Munio and I ended up representing BC Law.

How many guys (and gals) were in the derby overall?
Dan: The men’s derby had between 50 and 60 contestants.  I actually missed the women’s derby as I had a game that conflicted with it, but I believe it usually has 10-15 participants, although I could be wrong.

What was the format for the derby?
Dan: In the first round, each hitter gets five outs.  An “out” is any swing that does not result in a home run, whether it be a swing and miss, a hard line drive, or a long foul ball.  You hit as many home runs as you can before your fifth out.  Once everyone has hit in the first round, the top two finishers face off in a non-cumulative final, in which each hitter gets ten outs.  In the event of a tie in the finals, there is a three-out overtime period.  Each hitter must provide his own pitcher, and I was fortunate to have the best in the business, BC’s own Matt Hoisington.

Meanwhile, during each hitter’s at bat, there is music playing over the P.A. system, as well as an annoucer who will praise you for hitting well, but who will publicly admonish you for hitting poorly, so the pressure is on.  The guy was pretty funny this year.

What was some of the funnier commentary he gave?
Dan: When one late entrant asked us to delay the finals so he could hit at the end of the first round, then failed to hit a single home runs, he publicly thanked him for delaying the finals for his brilliant hitting display.

How many dingers did it take to make the cutoff to advance?
Dan: Well, you have to finish in the top two, and this year seven was good enough for second place.  That honor went to UVA’s Kyle Zeller. I came out of the prelims with a top score of twelve.

What happened in the finals? Did you play any headgames with the competition because of your earlier commanding performance?
Dan: Ha, something tells me that would not have helped - he was a much more imposing figure than I am.  Plus, we were on his home field, where he had already beaten out the rest of the UVA team for the right to compete in the derby - somehow I thought I’d be better off trying to intimidate him with my bat then with a staredown. 

Since I was the top seed, he hit first.  While he was hitting, I walked over to my equipment bag to shed the extra layer I had been wearing to stay warm.  By the time I returned, he had seven outs and only three home runs.  He finished with five.  The official scorekeeper told me I needed five home runs to tie, six to win, and that I should keep hitting after my sixth to put on a show for the folks watching.  Frankly, I became overconfident.  After hitting twelve homers on five outs, hitting six on ten outs would be a breeze.  Sure enough, before you knew it I was staring at my last out with only two home runs on the board.

And then the rally caps came out?
Dan: Yes sir.  I stepped out of the batter’s box, collected myself, and for the first time in the round, focused on the task at hand.  I gathered as much energy as I could from my fantastic cheering section, stepped back in, and waited for Matt to throw the perfect pitch.  My third home run was a no-doubter.  The fourth one made me sweat - I hit it toward center field, rather than left (the deepest part of the ballpark), and I didn’t quite hit it on the sweet spot, but it just barely squeaked over the fence.  Number five was another no-doubter, setting up one swing for the win.  Matt threw his best pitch of the day next, but unfortunately I popped it up into shallow left, setting up an overtime period.

Sudden death?
Dan: Three outs apiece.  We tossed a coin to see who would go first.  I won the toss and elected to hit second.  Kyle started off with a hard ground ball, followed by a monster of a home run, followed by a pop-up and a line drive for his third out.  I needed one to continue the contest and two to win. 

And did you bring it?
Dan: Oh, it was brought.  The derby only lasted for two more swings.  After hitting the first one, I took a moment to step out of the box and soak in the moment - what a feeling.  With three swings to end it, I felt no pressure at all.  Matt threw a perfect pitch over the plate, I swung with everything I had left, and the contest was over.  By the time the ball landed, we were high-fiving on the mound.

And where is the trophy today so that prospective students on tour of the school might look for it and also aspire to greatness?
Dan: Right now, the trophy is on my mantle.  I offered it to BC Law to put on display, but thus far they have not been receptive. My personal suggestion was a prominent display in the moot court trophy case on the fourth floor of Stuart House.

If BCLS doesn’t take the trophy, have you considered offering it up at the PILF Auction? I don’t think we’ve had any hardware from the UVA tournament since the legendary Co-Rec Champs of ‘93.
Dan: I am hesitant to offer the trophy itself. I have always believed that awards cannot be bought, so that should belong either to the institution or the individual that earned it. However, I would be happy to auction off a signed softball.  That’s bound to bring in something, right?

Indeed. Thanks for your time.
Dan: The pleasure’s all on this side of the table.  Hey, before we go, thanks to a few folks - Tom Hernandez, Kyle McClain, Julie Flygare, Jess Davis, and Becca Pittman for cheering at the derby, Mike Patterson for lending me his bat, and most of all Matt Hoisington for throwing the best pitches in the derby.  I couldn’t have done it without you guys.