For a handful of Loyola law students, the intramural softball league has offered a chance to escape from the busy nature of graduate school.
“Any time you get a chance to compete and get those juices flowing, it’s a great day. Forgetting about law school for a couple hours a week is also a big plus,” said Matthew Murphy, third-year law student.
Murphy, a member of THE Hung Jury, 4-0, is a self-proclaimed “contact hitter” and the league’s leading hitter. However, he doesn’t consider himself THE Hung Jury’s best hitter.
“I may be leading the league in hits, but our team’s best hitter is Brandon Juneau. He has hit for the cycle twice,” Murphy said.
Juneau, third-year law student, is among the league leaders in nearly every offensive statistical category and attributes his success on the diamond to hard work.
THE Hung Jury has relied on Juneau’s breakout season at the plate as well as stout defensive play to find themselves atop their division.
“I think the key to our success this year has been our defense. We’ve only given up four runs all year. We have a great outfield defense anchored by Ben(Biller) and Dwayne (Franklin). Danny (Perez) has also been impressive on the mound using his so called ‘Papi Pitch’ to strike out several hitters,” Juneau said.
Perez, third-year law student and team captain, leads the league with nine strikeouts.
“My game is most similar to Livan Hernandez from Cuba. Just like Livan, I defected from Cuba, came to the United States and began to dominate pitching. Also, Livan is the strikeout king,” Perez said.
While Perez characterized THE Hung Jury as being “clearly better” than any other team in the league, last year’s intramural softball league champion Cheat Codes II sits atop their division at 2-1.
“Oh yeah, we can definitely beat them (THE Hung Jury). We were hoping to get a chance to play them in the championship game last year, but they didn’t make it, and we ended up winning it all. Considering that they’re basically the same team as last year, we shouldn’t have any trouble taking care of them,” said John Pivach, second-year law student and Cheat Codes II member.
Pivach has an extensive baseball background. After graduating from Jesuit High School in New Orleans in 2006 where he won a state championship, Pivach accepted a scholarship offer to play at the University of New Orleans where he saw extensive time on the mound. The Boston Red Sox made Pivach their 46th-round selection in Major League Baseball’s 2009 First-Year Player Draft.
“I was lucky enough to be a member of several great teams, and while I didn’t know it at the time, my experiences on those teams were providing me with lessons and tools that I use every day in law school and in life,” Pivach said.
While Pivach may be the most talented player in the intramural softball league, he credits his team’s success to Paul Mitchell, second-year law student.
“Paul Mitchell is our best player by far. He’s a wall behind home plate and puts the barrel on the ball every at bat,” Pivach said.
While the law school students in the intramural softball league agree that the league is well-run and fun to participate in, they’d like a few changes.
“We need to play more games each season. I like to win a lot,” said John Stephens, second-year law student and Cheat Codes II member. Stephens compares himself mentally to former major-leaguer John Rocker and physically to Hall-of-Famer Ozzie Smith.
“The league is run pretty well, but if I could change one thing it would be the length of the games. I think there’s a 50-minute time limit, and we usually only get through three innings before time’s up. I think I speak for everyone when I say that a longer time limit would make the games more fun,” Pivach said.
Rich Dempsey can be reached at [email protected]
