Batter up!

What do you get when you combine 60-plus semi-fit adults with bats and balls and place them all in a field of green?

The smart money would be betting on the answer of “hilarity,” but only time will tell.

Last week, Malta’s Jo Tharp posted a message on a popular social networking site about the idea of starting a coed softball league in Phillips County for folks over the age of 18. Since then, the response has been strong in favor of such an adventure.

“I kind of put it out there that Phillips County needs a coed softball league and I got a lot of feedback on it,” Tharp said. “So then I decided to start a group and see who all wanted to play and we will just go from there.”

At this point, Tharp said that as it stands now (and if everybody who said they’d like to play actually shows up) there are enough people to start a four team league.

“But I am hoping for more,” she said.

As far as how competitive the games would be, Tharp said she wasn’t sure. She said that if there is a big enough response and more people turn out that there is possibility of two leagues, one for the more seasoned and competitive crowd and another for the not so gung-ho.

“We are having a meeting on Tuesday to see what everyone thinks,” said Tharp. “It is all kind of in the works right now.”

If everything goes as planned, Tharp said games would commence ASAP and run through the middle of August.

“Everyone from the county are more than welcome to come and play,” said Tharp. “I know that a lot of people and families like to take off the last couple of weeks of August for trips so it would be nice to have all the games played by the middle of August. But, like I said, that is still all up in the air.”

Tharp said that the league will be in need of any old softball equipment anyone can donate and a registration form for the league can be found on the league’s website by searching for “Malta CoEd Softball” on Facebook. On the form people can specify which position they feel they are best suited to play and if they would like to be a team captain.

Besides players– which will play games at Trafton Park – the league will also be searching for umpires and score keepers and people can sign up for those positions on the same registration form on Facebook.