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VIDEO NEWS: Music ensembles compete for softball glory

By Mara Kumagai Fink '11
May 28, 2009

It's 6:20 on a spring morning. The dew still sparkles on the grass, the temperature hovers around freezing and the sun is just rising in the sky. What, one may wonder, would possess any student musician to be on an athletic field at this hour?

Welcome to early morning softball season.

BrokenBat09a
The "Broken Bat" series of softball games between the St. Olaf Band and St. Olaf Orchestra was first played in 1974. Each year's winning team gets to mark the bat for posterity.
The various St. Olaf music organizations bring out their bats and gloves every spring starting in April and going through mid-May. Games start at 6:30 a.m. and finish with enough time for a team breakfast in Stav Hall before 8 a.m. classes.

The tradition dates back to 1974, when the band and orchestra broke a bat during a softball game. Ever since then the band and orchestra seasons have culminated in the "Broken Bat" game, where the two teams compete for the right to carve their organization's name into the bat and brag about the victory for a year.

And today it's not just band and orchestra members who participate. The St. Olaf Choir and Cantorapel (a combined Chapel Choir and Cantorei team) also compete for the coveted "Busted Ball." Norseman Band, Philharmonia, Viking Chorus, Manitou Singers, the various jazz ensembles and handbell choirs make up another team known as "Norsephilvikatoujazzhands."

This year the St. Olaf Choir went home with the Busted Ball. Watch the video story below to see who captured the Broken Bat ...



Andrew Watt '11 and David Gonnerman '90 contributed to this story.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.