Brewers top Cubs in inaugural wives softball game

MILWAUKEE -- The Cubs have consistently come out on top versus the Brewers in 2018, winning eight of the first nine matchups between the two clubs on the diamond.
That doesn't matter to the Brewers' wives.
The Brewers' spouses defeated the Cubs' 10-3 in the first Brewers-Cubs Wives Softball Challenge at Helfaer Field on Tuesday afternoon for a good cause.

The final play of the #Brewers’ 10-3 win over the Cubs in the first Wives Softball Challenge. pic.twitter.com/SG3luOS52M

— Stephen Cohn (@stephen__cohn) June 12, 2018

"The girls were pumped, and they were ready to show their husbands that they know how to play," said Michelle Counsell, the wife of Brewers manager Craig Counsell. "It's just been really great bonding with everyone, and we're having a great time."
Decked out in authentic Brewers and Cubs uniforms, the two clubs came prepared to play the seven-inning softball game, which benefitted Milwaukee and Chicago's Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) programs.
Fans supported the cause by purchasing a Wives Softball Challenge ticket package, which included entry to the softball game and a Loge Outfield Box ticket to Tuesday night's game against the Cubs at Miller Park. Jerseys and other memorabilia were also raffled off at the game for fans to win as money was raised for the local RBI programs.
Each team held several practices to work on hitting, fielding and throwing in the weeks leading up to the charity event, but a few players had prior softball experience, including the Brewers' Kaycee Sogard.

Congrats #Brewers Wives on the big Win vs Cubs Wives!!! You ladies were awesome!! @KayceeSogard five months pregnant and MVP of the game 😍 #MyHero ❤️🏆 pic.twitter.com/hsSquKpRek

— Eric Sogard (@EricSogard) June 12, 2018

Sogard, the wife of Brewers infielder Eric Sogard, played collegiately as a middle infielder at Arizona State, where she met her husband. But currently pregnant, she was placed at first base, a position at which she scooped several low throws.
"I felt really kind of awkward because my belly is really big, but it was really fun," Sogard said. "I haven't really been on the field for a long time, except when Eric makes me hit him ground balls or play catch in the offseason."
Sogard scored one of the Brewers' five runs in the first inning -- a frame that was abruptly halted due to a five-run limit -- after the Cubs got on the board first with a run to open the game.
Milwaukee added two more runs in the second inning and three more in the fourth, including a run on one of the game's savviest plays. Alyssa Vogt, wife of Brewers catcher Stephen Vogt, tripled to lead off the fourth inning and tagged up on Sogard's line drive, which was caught by Paige Hartman, Kyle Schwarber's girlfriend.
The Cubs cut into the Brewers' lead with two runs in the fourth, but they weren't able to muster any more offense due to some solid infield defense from Milwaukee.

ICYMI: The Brewers Wives were victorious in today's #WivesSBChallenge, a special event designed to raise money for @MLBRBI.

MORE:https://t.co/57roO2lvVv pic.twitter.com/FxPMfX72PI

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) June 12, 2018

Jessica Bryant -- Kristopher Bryant's wife -- was injured and managed the Cubs. Bryant didn't have to argue, but Counsell -- like her husband, who has been ejected three times this season -- left the dugout to jokingly disagree with the volunteer umpires on a pair of calls. She even got one overturned.
Many players on the Brewers and Cubs were in the stands and on the field cheering on their significant others just 12 hours after the Cubs took Monday night's series opener, 7-2, in 11 innings and moved into first place in the National League Central for the first time since May 1.
The Cubs wore T-shirts with a drawing of their wives, fiancées or girlfriends' faces and names on them in a show of support. Brewers third baseman Hernan Perez and pitcher Brent Suter coached the bases for Milwaukee, high-fiving and hyping up the players when they reached base.
"It was such a cool role reversal," Suter said. "They're always supporting us playing, and to be out here and cheer them on was really fun and for a great cause. It was a really good event, and I hope we do that every year."