There’s an unwritten rule in Mineola, a not-so-top secret tradition that some may have never heard about. When the rodeo ends on Friday night, the competition isn’t over yet. It simply changes from an arena to a softball field.
About 15 to 20 years ago, the Mineola Volunteer Fire Department and the Flying C Rodeo Company decided a night of bull riding and barrel racing was not enough competition, according to Scott Melvin. Participants swapped out their rodeo gear for gloves and bats and headed to the local ball field for round two.
The first game was played at noon on a Friday many years ago, but organizers decided to move the game to a later start time. Between the Texas heat and a full night of rodeo events, it did not take long to decide the game belonged on Friday night after the rodeo.
This year, volunteer firefighter Josh Hearn took the reins, organizing a tradition that’s become less of a softball game and more of a family reunion with base paths.
Most of the players come from the fire department or the rodeo company, but when a roster comes up short, teams grab whoever is there. Wives, kids and spectators in the stands have all found themselves in the lineup.
Levi Hearn, Josh’s son, has grown up watching the chaos unfold and described the rules simply.
“They mostly just play until they decide they’re finished. They aim for about seven innings, but it’s take or give,” Levi Hearn said.
Levi has played alongside his father in the game for about four years.
Scott Melvin coached the firefighters this year with one arm in a sling, but that did not stop him from keeping an eye on the action. He remembers when players would spend all day setting up the rodeo, work the event that night and then play softball until the early morning hours. These days, everybody agrees that seven innings, give or take, is plenty.
On the field, the firefighters came out strong, scoring a run in the bottom of the first to grab an early 1-0 lead. It would be their only lead of the night. Flying C answered with an offensive explosion, hitting at least three home runs and never looking back.
As for the final score, that depends on who you ask.
Estimates ranged anywhere from 8-1 to 18-3. No scorebook exists, so an official score is impossible to determine.
The winning team gets a trophy, and it is presented with all the seriousness of a championship, even if the game itself is not.
At the end of Friday night, nobody was really there for the score. After a long night of hauling gear, the annual softball game was its own reward. It was an opportunity for all involved to come together, shake off the dust, share a lot of laughs and celebrate those who make the Mineola VFD Rodeo possible.