Crowds gather weekly in Wisconsin to watch their teams play ball – Snowshoe: NPR

In the United States, most rackets are probably stored right now, collecting dust and waiting for the temperatures to drop. In the town of Lake Tomahawk, in the Wisconsin Northwoods, they are used extensively this summer.

Racquetball baseball is exactly what it looks like. It's a baseball game played on rackets, although it sounds more like a weird softball game.

Every Monday evening in the summer and July 4th, hundreds of tourists and residents gather to cheer on the players who put on their rackets and hit a big softball around a field of wood chips. That's what's been happening since 1961, when the then city president, Ray Sloan, had the idea of ​​making the game a spectator capable of entertaining summer tourists and locals alike. from the city. An earlier version of the game was played on frozen lakes. Therefore, snowshoes.

The entree is free, but slices of homemade pie cost $ 2. The pie is a big problem here too. Every night you can find 40 different flavors.

Sheila Punches says that "they come for the cake and stay for the match". She comes to the games since the 1970s and she says that pie is a way to measure her popularity.

"There was a time when 30 pies were enough," she says. "Then it was 40, 50, 60, 70 … 100 pies, it's not too much pies to have, I think someone said they're in." had 160 last week for July 4th. "

The flavors of the pie range from traditional – rhubarb to raspberry or apple – to the most unique: Banana Split, Margarita and even Sawdust, with graham crackers and coconut flakes.

The game begins with an interpretation of the national anthem by the choir of the local barber. Local commentators Adam Lau and Jimmy Soyck are in the lead.

In a recent game, a person takes a swing, misses the ball and changes bat.

"Oh, that's the bat," Soyck says in his mike.

"It's always the bat's fault," agrees Lau.

Then, when the player hits the ball, he stumbles just after leaving the plate. The crowd cheers audibly, then sighs.

This hilarious scene is all too common, especially for new players. Soyck says you can not run on snowshoes. Everything is in the shuffle.

"You have to mix your feet, you can not pick them up," he says. "If you take them, you go further, no if, no, but about it."

The game continues until the 7th round, when a lucky hitter is thrown a disguised cantaloupe instead of a ball. When the batter comes into contact, he immediately disperses the baseball field with pieces of melon.

"When it falls, it splashes everywhere," said Jeff Smith, who coaches the Snow Hawks, the home team. "It was designed to look a lot like these balls, and the hitter is not supposed to know before hitting."

It's easy to laugh at people playing softball on snowshoes in the middle of the summer, but Phil Hejtmanek says there are a lot of talented players here.

"What's funny is that these guys are really good," he says. "You think" oh, the field players will not be able to play, "but wait."

Coach Jeff Smith said it took a lot of work on the part of local volunteers to make every game run smoothly, but that he was not expecting the game disappears forever.

"There is too much passion among city dwellers around racket baseball," he says. "People are very serious about their winning and playing team and they just want to be part of it."

In the end, this game is part of the fabric of this city. Residents like Macey Macintyre grew up watching him.

"The whole city is coming together just to watch this and you know it's all the city because you see everyone week after week," she says. "It makes our city unique and makes me simply love my city and its people."

So, if you're in the Wisconsin Northwoods on a Monday night this summer and you're looking for entertainment and good company, snowshoe baseball will take place at Tomahawk Lake. The season ends at the end of August.