Chili Balls runner is safe on an error. Dan McGee photo.

It’s Wednesday night, it’s 20 degrees outside...and dropping. There’s 4-6 inches of snow on the ground. You are a recreational league softball player. Under almost any other situation, you will not be playing a game that night. Almost.

This is the City of Sparks Deep Freeze League. When you pay your dues to play in this league you’d better know one thing. PLAY BALL! So it is on Wednesdays at the Shadow Mountain Sports Complex. Upon arriving, the first thing you notice is that you’re not going to park right up front. The lot is full of cars. If you drove up and didn’t believe people would be playing softball, that’s the first indication that you would be wrong.

The Deep Freeze League consists of 28 teams. Seven teams in each of the men’s "A", "B", "C" and "D" divisions. They play an eight game season. And just like your postal carrier, they deliver in rain or sleet or snow_

On this night, in addition to the aforementioned conditions, the teams had to deal with an intermittent freezing rain coming down. By any standards you draw up, these players are die-hards!

It’s the start of the evenings second round of games. Eight teams on four fields are coming off and eight other teams are headed into the dugouts. The players play in all various modes of dress. Some have so many layers of clothes on that it is difficult for them to move around. And then you have those stalwart few that are out there playing in shorts and a sweatshirt.

Game time. Line-ups are exchanged, the scoreboard is reset and the umpires call for play to begin. The pitcher is ready, the batter stands in the box. The pitch comes in and the batter ropes one to deep left center. The outfielders are trying to get over to make the catch. The ball lands. There’s no bounce! Where’s the ball? Of course, it’s hiding under the blanket of snow that covers the outfield. It takes the outfielders a couple of seconds to get over to the ball and another couple of seconds to find the ball and throw it in. At the same time, the batter has fallen face-first in the snow halfway to first base. When he gets to the bag he rounds it and slips again! He is forced to retreat back to the first base bag. What would have been anything from a double to a possible inside the park homerun, any other time of the year, has been recorded as a long single. That’s just the first play of the game. It’s going to be a tough 70 minutes.

Conditions for this league have been difficult to play in this season. The week before there was severe fog in northern Nevada. It was so dense at times that from home plate you couldn’t see past the shortstop. "At times it was so bad, we had to hope the ball would hit something, like a fence or pole, so we could try to find the ball," according to Doug Foremaster, who for the last four years has been the coordinator of the Deep Freeze League and doubles as an umpire for the league games. "It’s tough to get all the calls right, body language plays a big part in making some calls. We play it by the rules, right down to the legality of everybodys bats," said Foremaster.

The atmosphere around the complex is fantastic. People are milling around watching the different games. Fans are in the stands cheering their teams on. Little kids are playing with other little kids. A center of attention is the concession stand area. Propane heaters are keeping several people warm. Cups of hot chocolate and coffee are very popular this evening. There are even a couple guys enjoying a nice, ice-cold beer!

Play continues on the fields. Fielders are diving for balls and runners are sliding into mud holes, where the bases are supposed to be, trying to get that extra base. While this is good fun, the teams are all serious about winning this night.

There are four guys here tonight that are even more die-hard than the players. The umpires. They call three games each. They stand in the snow and slush for upwards of three hours keeping the play moving. "It’s a lot of fun," said 7-year veteran umpire Ron Mirra. "I enjoy doing it, have a great time and most of the players are good to be around." Another veteran umpire, Gene Balon said "I’ve been an umpire for 14 years and this league is as fun as any I call."

The games are wrapping up. The players are packing up their equipment. Most of the games tonight were one-sided but there are no long faces among the losers. The temperature is down into the mid-teens. Time for a cup of hot chocolate_or maybe an ice-cold beer.