Intern vs. Supervisor Softball Game

"We've been looking forward to this game for 365 days," said Finishing Supervisor Eric Hensley. "We knew coming into tonight that we had a title to uphold and a golden, albeit plastic, baseball bat was on the line. This wasn't just any game. It was the most anticipated game of the year."

The third annual intern vs supervisor softball game ended much like previous years with supervisors scoring a lot and interns scoring... not a lot. The infamous game has become quite a tradition at Iowa Select Farms and this year's competition did not disappoint, unless of course you ask an intern.

"I'm still not convinced everyone on the supervisors' team were actually employees. The first basemen played like Anthony Rizzo with an Iowa Select shirt on," said Ellie Shane, communications intern. "We couldn't get anyone home no matter how hard we tried."

Thanks to Sow 12 Farm Manager Shawn Chaplin who manned the pitching machine, everyone received fair pitches that resulted in several solid hits and home runs for the supervisors. Interns were even able to make contact, something that has not always happened in the past. But even with their excellent offensive skills, the supervisors made it tougher than ever to make it around the bases.

"We were a brick wall on defense, that's for sure," said Noel Williams. "Offensively the interns played really well, but our quick footwork made up for it. Nothing got past us and I'm really proud of how we played tonight."

From pop flies and line drives to stolen bases and quick tag outs, athleticism was on full display tonight. Just ask Sow 12's intern Jacob Stratton who attempted to slide home and scored nothing but a bruised knee and even bigger bruised ego. "If home plate would have been about 3-feet closer to third base I would have made it," recalled Stratton. "Hopefully we at least get participation ribbons when it's all said and done because we gave it our all tonight."

Although tonight might not have gone as planned for the interns, they are optimistic for the future and ready to get this game behind them.

"A wise man once told me if you ain't first, you're last," reflected intern Alex Umbaugh. "This is a tough loss, but we're going to get back in the barn tomorrow and see where the real winners stand out."

Thanks to everyone for giving it their all tonight and for being such excellent sports during the game. Although the supervisors are now back-to-back-to-back champs, we're proud of our hard-working interns and all they've accomplished on farm this summer. We'll see who takes home the golden bat in 2018!

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