Notepad

Named MVP of a team of young women comprised of players from the Democratic and Republican national committees and the parties' House and Senate committees, Buchanan ended up with three hits, including a two-run triple, and six assists in a one-sided affair.

At the end of seven innings, the scoreboard read 14-8 in favor of the parties' team, but it was the more than $40,000 raised for the Young Survival Coalition to battle breast cancer that served as a final score for all of the players involved. It was double what organizers had hoped for, and the final tally included a $1,000 check from Nydia M. Velazquez, D-N.Y., who provided the most dramatic moment of the night when she came to the plate in the sixth inning.

For five innings, the congresswomen were held hitless, first by the RNC's Kitty Marcucci for four innings and then for one inning by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Lauren Dikis.

Velazquez, who had strained a muscle in her leg during practice last week, stepped to the plate to lead off the bottom half of the sixth, with the members trailing 14-0. Velazquez slashed the ball into center field, but she couldn't run. Instead, she limped to the first base bag before she could be thrown out to record the members' first hit.

"I knew that they needed me and I made the sacrifice," Velazquez said of playing through pain.

Four walks and a fielder's choice brought home two runs to put the lawmakers on the board.

They added a handful of aesthetic runs in the bottom of seventh, but like most votes on the House floor, the outcome was never in doubt.

The roughly 200-person crowd at Guy Mason Park in northwest Washington included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland.

"Our team is a great team," Pelosi said. "It's enthusiastic and it's bipartisan, and that's a victory in itself."

The ever-competitive Pelosi noted that it was a weight off the team's shoulders to get on the scoreboard in the sixth inning. So, did the ever-competitive Hoyer.

"They are ecstatic that they have six runs," he said before the final two crossed the plate.

New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, the only senator to take the field, overcame some early defensive struggles at shortstop to make a couple of strong plays from the infield and pitched effectively in relief of starter Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo.

Wasserman Schultz, who organized the event with Emerson, was the Democrats' defensive star, recording several putouts at second base. She was injured in the last inning while sliding safely into second base, but stuck it out to participate in the closing ceremony before leaving in an ambulance.

Indeed, everyone involved seemed committed to the cause at hand.

"It's awesome that all of these women can come together and put partisanship aside for a good cause," Buchanan said.