Originally published in the Daily Republic on April 10 , 2015 By Kevin W. Green
Team City of Fairfield came from behind in the final inning to take a 2-1 win over Team Solano County in the inaugural “Strike Out Sexual Assault” baseball game Thursday afternoon.
The three-inning game on the courthouse annex lawn in downtown Fairfield was part of a community event – hosted by the Family Justice Center of the Solano County District Attorney’s Office – aimed at raising awareness of Sexual Assault Month.
“Sexual assault is a horrible crime that happens across the United States,” explained David C. Isom, Solano Family Violence Prevention officer. “It happens in Solano County. It happens in the city of Fairfield.
“Raising awareness about horrible stuff is kind of difficult, because people don’t really want to come and sit around and talk about bad stuff,” he said. “So we figured we would put a light-hearted spin to the discussion, to the conversation to raise awareness.”
“We want to strike out sexual assault,” Isom said. “The way you strike stuff out is put it together with a baseball game to bring people together.”
So the game came about with a Board of Supervisors team against a City Council team, playing with a wiffle ball and a plastic bat, he said.
“It’s a funny way of coming together about a horrible social ill,” Isom said. “We’ve got to come together and be unified about striking out sexual assault in our community. The only way to do that is just bring everybody together and talk about it and deal with it.”
During his remarks, Isom challenged those in attendance to consider what they can do to strike out sexual assault. Another of the speakers offered a first-hand account about sexual assault.
Thursday’s event – which was free and open to the public – included tasty treats, T-shirt giveaways, guest speakers, community resources and family activities.
The Family Justice Center, located at 604 Empire St., offers support for victims of domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault and elder abuse.
