MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
On a muddy, muggy day in Brooklyn's Prospect Park, it's time for the big game - part of the softball playoffs for 11- and 12-year-old girls. You will be expecting a whole lot of cheering. As reporter Sally Herships finds, you may also hear singing.
UNIDENTIFIED SOFTBALL PLAYERS: (Singing) L-E-L-E-A-L-E-A-D-O-F-F. Lead-off batter. Lead-off batter.
SALLY HERSHIPS: Over on Field 6, 11-year-old Mina Berman is ready.
MINA BERMAN: So it's the playoffs. It's the first-round of playoffs and if we lose, we're out. And so we really need to win this.
HERSHIPS: Mina's softball team is called the Renegades.
MINA: We dominated in our last game and we won 20-8, so I have a good feeling about this. We can do it.
MAEWYN DONALDSON: Uh, uh (ph).
HERSHIPS: Maewyn Donaldson isn't so sure. That win was their only one of the season. Across the diamond...
(SOUNDBITE OF BAT STRIKING BALL)
HERSHIPS: ...The other team is warming up. Somehow, their girls look bigger. Their name - terrifyingly - is the Devils. Big rivalry, high stakes, but both teams are starting with the same play - singing, or more specifically, chanting.
UNIDENTIFIED SOFTBALL PLAYER #1: Her name is Mina.
(Chanting) Mina is a friend of mine.
UNIDENTIFIED SOFTBALL PLAYERS: (Chanting) Mina is a friend of mine.
UNIDENTIFIED SOFTBALL PLAYER #1: (Chanting) She can hit that ball real fine.
UNIDENTIFIED SOFTBALL PLAYERS: (Chanting) She can hit that ball real fine.
HERSHIPS: Unlike in other sports, in softball, it's the players, not the fans, who do the singing. The Renegades are in the field now, and Emily Levin and Lola Palazzolo are watching their team through the fence. The chants have been the subject of a lot of team texts.
What's the reason for the chants?
EMILY LEVIN: 'Cause it just motivates the players and give them confidence in themselves.
LOLA PALAZZOLO: And it's just, like, so that you - they can, like, feel better in the field and, like, when they're batting. So they have more confidence.
EMILY: And it motivates them, and it's just fun to chant.
HERSHIPS: There's a chant for almost every moment in the game, and all of them require full-on K-Pop selfie energy.
SAGE: (Chanting) My name is Sage, and you know what I got?
UNIDENTIFIED SOFTBALL PLAYERS: (Chanting) What do you got?
SAGE: (Chanting) I got a team that's hotter than hot.
UNIDENTIFIED SOFTBALL PLAYERS: (Chanting) How hot is hot?
HERSHIPS: Behind home plate, Carolyn Weiss - Emily's mom - is sitting in a camping chair. She says she appreciates the team nature of the sport.
CAROLYN WEISS: No one is ostracized for making an error, and that's awesome. It's like, people just get cheered for, no matter what.
HERSHIPS: Weiss says that's nice, especially for pre-teens, who can be cliquey. And chants are a huge part of that team spirit. A few innings later, the sun is out, it's hot and you can almost smell the sunscreen. The Renegades have fallen behind, but as she walks off the field into the dugout, catcher Maeve Clark-Howe is still optimistic.
So guys, what's the score?
MAEVE CLARK-HOWE: Two to 15.
HERSHIPS: And you think you can come back?
MAEVE: I think we can get close, yeah.
HERSHIPS: On the other side of the diamond, the Devils are also chanting.
UNIDENTIFIED SOFTBALL PLAYERS: (Chanting) Is she high, is she low? Is she fast, is she slow? Is she in, is she out? Is she all about? We don't care, we don't care. We can hit it anywhere. Watch the pitcher. Watch, watch the pitcher. Watch the pitcher. Watch how she pitches.
HERSHIPS: One final devilish pitch and the game is over. Final score - Renegades 2, Devils 17. As they say here in Brooklyn, wait till next year. In the meantime, the Renegades have a proven method for keeping their spirits up.
UNIDENTIFIED SOFTBALL PLAYER #2: (Chanting) S-U-P-E-R. We're super girls, that's what we are. We're super girls, why can't you see? We're No. 1, not two, not three.
HERSHIPS: For NPR News, I'm Sally Herships in Brooklyn.
UNIDENTIFIED SOFTBALL PLAYER #2: (Chanting) We're super girls, why can't you see? We're No. 1, not two, not three.
UNIDENTIFIED SOFTBALL PLAYER #3: S-U-P-E-R. We're super girls, that's what we are. We're super girls, why can't you see? We're No. 1, not two, not three.
UNIDENTIFIED SOFTBALL PLAYER #4: S-U-P-E-R. We're super girls, that's what we are. We're super girls, why can't you see? We're No. 1, not two, not three.
UNIDENTIFIED SOFTBALL PLAYER #5: S-U-P-E-R. We're super girls, that's what we are. We're super girls, why can't you see? We're No. 1, not two, not three.
UNIDENTIFIED SOFTBALL PLAYER #6: S-U-P-E-R. We're super girls, that's what we are. We're super girls, why can't you see? Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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