Across the Aisle | Pennsylvania Softball Showdown Is a Home Run for Camaraderie.

• Author: Schley, Stewart

Bryan Cutler, the House speaker of Pennsylvania, is hugging tight to second base with the home team down by two, runners on second and third, and right-handed hitter Craig Williams, a fellow House Republican, at the plate. With the pitch count at 1-1, the stage is set for a marquee moment--and Williams delivers, lofting a pitch from Democratic Rep. Robert Matzie to shallow center field. Cutler tears around third base, determined to score the tying run.

The ball soars. The second baseman, Republican Rep. Clint Owlett, scampers backward with his arm outstretched, intent on making a majestic, game-ending catch. But the ball has other ideas. It drifts just over his glove, sure to drop for a clutch RBI single. But wait: Who's that behind Owlett? It's Mark Rozzi, a Democrat representing Berks County, smartly playing backup. Rozzi races in, sliding on one knee, glove extended almost to the ground. And there it is: the satisfying thwack of ball meeting leather, a dramatic, game-saving, last-out, are-you-kidding-me web gem of a catch.

And there it is: the satisfying thwack of ball meeting leather, a dramatic, game-saving, last-out, are-you-kidding-me web gem of a catch. And now, the moment game organizer Corinna Wilson has hoped for: Owlett sprints over to Rozzi, embracing his across-the-aisle teammate with a fantastic grin on his face. Others pile on: Greg Rothman, a Republican from Cumberland County, leaps into the spontaneous scrum, landing on the back of fellow GOP-er Ryan Warner. Rep. Mike Schlossberg, the Democratic Caucus administrator from Allentown, jumps up, arms outstretched, onto his Republican teammates. Shortstop Meghan Schroeder, a Republican from Buckingham, executes a hands-in-the-air victory dance, then runs from the infield to join the joyous bipartisan hug.

Right now, political allegiances, gender and regional disparities matter not. What matters is Rozzi has made the catch, the Youse have won the game and the party is on.

Charity Contest

Facing off in this legislative softball showdown, with their distinctly Pennsylvania team names, were the Yinz and the Youse, each boasting bipartisan lineups and co-captains representing both political parties. Since 2013, the Legislature's Capitol All-Stars game has been the almost-annual (COVID-19 notwithstanding) event that unites sometimes-fractious politicians in a charity-enriching contest Wilson believes has impact beyond the respective dugouts.

Wilson, whose Wilson500 public affairs...