Falls Fire Fighters and Cops Square off Thursday in Annual Softball Game

The Packers versus the Bears.

The Cubs versus the Brewers.

Man versus nature.

Good versus evil.

These all are notable rivalries of our beloved state of Wisconsin, and our human condition. However, they pale in comparison to the heated rivalry that will take place on the baseball diamond at Thursday evening for the opening night of Falls Fest between the Menomonee Falls Police Department and the Menomonee Falls Fire Department.

It’s an epic clash between men and women that put out flames and those that put criminals behind bars. And although the two departments work cooperatively to ensure the safety of Menomonee Falls residents, they will be at odds when that first pitch is thrown.

The pregame festivities will begin at 6:15 p.m., and the first pitch will be thrown at about 6:45 p.m. Police Chief Anna Ruzinski will sing the national anthem before the game.

Although the rivalry is fierce, the game is for a good cause. It raises awareness and money for the MFFD and MFPD scholarship fund that is given each year to a Menomonee Falls High School senior interested in pursuing fire sciences or criminal justice.

This year’s scholarship recipient is Andrew VonBank.

The police department has owned the annual event winning the past five games between the two teams. Police Sgt. Matthew Lewek said the streak is likely to continue in 2011. Lewek will bat second and play third in the game.

“They haven’t really stood a chance in any one of those years. And this year we have a ringer, Steve McKinnon, a former Minnesota Gopher baseball standout and major league prospect,” Lewek said. “The police department has pretty much dominated the rivalry over the past couple years, and we kind of refer to the fire department as the hosers.”

Fortunately, things are looking up for the fire department this year. In 2010, the fire department team snapped the streak and didn’t lose the game. They didn’t win either. It was canceled because of monsoon-like weather.

“We have a secret team this year. We’ve recruited some new players,” said Brent Biedenbender, fire fighter and player/coach for the team. “It would be a relief to win this year. No more trash talking from Sgt. Lewek."

Although the fire fighters may have recruited a good team this year, Lewek was puzzled as to why that doesn’t happen every year.

“They have about 105 people to choose from to field their team, and we only have about 50 people to fill the team. We keep finding the better team for some reason,” Lewek said. “We’re looking forward to routing the fire department again.”

Biedenbender said there isn’t really much fire fighters can say in response to Lewek’s bold statements.

“It’s a fun rivalry, and it’s a good time. They trash talk and we can’t really because we haven’t won for a few years,” Biedenbender said.