Photo by Samantha Davis Marshall Police Department’s Caleb Witte, center, is joined by his teammates who put a rainbow skirt on him after striking out Wednesday night at the first-ever Battle of the Badges softball game at the Marshall Sports Complex.

MARSHALL — With a late-evening sun shining and no clouds in the sky, Marshall’s first-ever Battle of the Badges softball game between the police department and fire department brought in plenty of spectators and fun to kick off this year’s Sounds of Summer festivities.

Held at the Marshall Sports Complex, it was the Marshall Fire Department that came away with a 21-18 win over the police department after nine innings of laughs and tricks.

The game was filled with surprises to keep the teams on their toes and continue the laughter from the crowd.

Marshall’s Aaron Ziemer and Kelly Loft were the game’s announcers, adding to the jokes throughout the night.

“This is a great event tonight, bringing so many people together here in the Marshall community,” Loft said. “This is more than just a softball game, it’s going to be a show throughout the night with both teams really not knowing some of the special games going on.”

Starting the shenanigans from the jump in the first inning, the fire department’s manager of the game Jake Olsen ran to offer the police department runners along the third baseline doughnuts, to offer a humorous distraction.

Sgt. Ben Rieke served as the police department’s manager.

Fire Chief Quentin Brunsvold started pitching for the fire department, and officer Scott Wilson did so for the police department.

There were frequent remarks between the two dugouts joking about the score and poking fun at one another, as laughter continued from the crowd.

The police department scored five runs in the opening frame, and the fire department responded with three on their own in the bottom of the firth. The rest of the game saw a plethora of runs on both ends nearly every inning.

In the third inning for the night’s first surprise, both teams were instructed they had to run backward, running to third base after a hit, then second and first.

All players then had to use wooden bats for the fourth-inning surprise, before the bats went away completely for an inning of kickball in the sixth inning.

When players struck out, they also were promptly greeted by their teammates to put on a rainbow skirt, bolstering more laughs.

The fire department fell behind with a 15-6 deficit at the end of the fourth inning. Yet, the department’s dugout could be heard jokingly yelling, “I smell a comeback” heading into the fifth inning, which came true.

With six fifth-inning runs to climb back within 15-12, the fire department took the lead in the seventh and continued to chip away.

For the night’s final surprise going into the final inning, all players were instructed to take the field for a dance-off, with an extra run on the line.

When the crowd was asked following the game if they’d like to see this event take place again next year, cheers of “yes” were loudly present.

The first Battle of the Badges game was very successful in terms of turnout, entertainment and surprises, and kicked off the event-filled weekend in Marshall on good terms.

Sounds of Summer will continue through Saturday with a handful of festivities, vendors, food trucks and live music throughout town.