A softball game unlike any other was the highlight of the weekend at Morley Field this past Sunday. On the playing field, women were dressed like men, men were dressed up as cheerleaders and a drag queen sans skirt and makeup threw pitches. It could only be the Imperial Court’s annual Bat-N-Rouge softball tournament, which included teams sponsored by the Imperial Court, ROK Sports, Bourbon Street and Bacchus House.

“It was started by my mom and Empress Summer Meadows,” Princess Royal and Imperial Court pitcher Satin Styles told the Gay and Lesbian Times. “We do a lot of stuff all dressed up and in bars, and it was basically so we could all get out and have a good time and do something in the park for charity.”

The tournament is a fundraiser for the Imperial Court, and all of the money raised is split between the Court’s student scholarship fund and the charity of the winning team’s choice.

In the first game of the day it was Bourbon Street against ROK Sports, with Bourbon Street running away with the game, 15-2. In the second game the Imperial Court took on the San Diego Kings Club. The Kings staged a five-run rally in the last inning of the game, but it was too little too late as the Imperial Court won with a 12-8 lead. In the championship game, Bourbon Street showed no mercy, beating the Imperial Court 18-3 to take first place.

“I thought it was really fun,” Styles said of this year’s games. “The court team did really good this year, because they always finish butt-last and this year they came in second. I was really happy to see our first lesbian team (San Diego Kings Club), sponsored by Bacchus House.”

This year’s tournament raised an estimated $900, which will be split between the Imperial Court’s scholarship fund and the American Veterans for Equal Rights, Bourbon Street’s charity of choice.

“I definitely want to thank all the players and the teams that were there,” said Maria Muñoz, better known as “Mama Wheels,” co-founder of Bat-N-Rouge. “We will be doing the same thing next year — maybe a little later in the year when it’s cooler — but I will be looking for teams.”