Each player dove to the ground and soared in the air trying to catch the ball, their movements followed by enraptured eyes on the sidelines.

This was no ordinary softball game.

The 16-inch softball tournament, created by the mashup of Love Your Melon and DanceBlue, was hosted to fund the research to cure pediatric cancer.

16-inch softball is played with a larger ball and no gloves.

Four softball games were simultaneously played in each corner of the Pieratt Fields. The teams were made up of sororities and fraternities. Despite the lax setting, the competitiveness was palpable and exciting to watch.

Many were on the sidelines, also supporting the cause. Madison Deaton, a nursing senior, and Emma Siddens, a marketing senior, joined Love Your Melon after their friend, the vice president of Love Your Melon, told them about it.

“We liked the idea behind all of it,” Deaton said. “I think this is the first year that Love your Melon has ever done an event.”

Deaton said it was good that lots of people attended because all of the money goes to DanceBlue.

The founder of this event, Meghan Houbolt, decided to use softball as the platform for the fundraiser.

“I’m from the Southside of Chicago, and we play 16-inch softball all the time and have really successful fundraisers for different scholarship funds and stuff like that,” Houbolt said. “I thought it would be fun to bring it to Kentucky, to try something new.”

Though the day was cloudy, this did not stop the students from going all-out in their performance. The delight from being able to play something new was clear on the faces of every person that went out to support the noble cause.

With the success of the large turnout, and the fundraising power of Love Your Melon, the day was a lot brighter for everyone involved in the event.