Friendly competition on the diamond isn't the same on Zoom

While many of the National Press Club's routine activities have been adjusted to a virtual format, one seasonal activity just can't make that transition: the Club's softball team. Montgomery County has shut down its team recreational activities to control the spread of COVID-19, including all sports leagues.

In a normal softball season in the Metropolitan Media Softball League, Memorial Day weekend would have been a week off from weekly Saturday doubleheaders that started in mid-April before the final push to playoffs.

Like those hoping Major League Baseball eventually will play ball, Big Blue and MMSL are holding out hope that there will be some media softball in 2020. For now, it's a waiting game. The fields are closed into June, with no date for reopening. In fact, Montgomery County, unlike most of Maryland, has not begun to reopen from the cornavirus-induced shutdown.

The Club has one of the longest-tenured teams in the co-ed media league, having first taken the field in 1992, its second year of operation, and winning its first divisional title a year later.