Tough game

Published: October 1, 2009

Dave Molenda, owner of Weather Tek Design Center Inc., Brookfield, sits in the yard of his town of Waukesha home Sept. 17. Molenda travels to state prisons through an outreach program to play softball with inmates. Photo by Kevin Harnack

Dave Molenda’s been to the highest security prison in Wisconsin, but he didn’t commit a crime. He was there to play softball.

Molenda, owner of Weather Tek Design Center Inc., Brookfield, and other men from Elmbrook Church and Brother Bob’s Prison Outreach volunteer to play softball with state prisoners as a morale booster.

He’s played at prisons of all security levels — even the Wisconsin Secure Program Facility, a super maximum-security prison in Oshkosh.

“Some of these prisoners look forward to it like it’s the World Series,” Molenda said. “It’s sort of a reward for good behavior.”

Prisoners are usually very well behaved, he said, better than some of the men Molenda’s played with in recreational bar leagues.

“The prisoners look at it as a privilege,” he said.

There have been times Molenda, 44, was frightened, he said. The odds are usually against him and his teammates: typically there are five guards and a couple thousand inmates (including spectators).

“When you hear those big doors close behind you once you get there, it’s a little frightening,” he said. “Your stuck in this little room while they do an inmate count — but it really is totally safe.”

Prisoners are usually very curious as to why the men would come and play with them, Molenda said.

“We’re there to show them we’re not that different,” he said. “We want them to know they matter.”

Certain topics are never broached, however.

“There are two things we never talk about with the prisoners: what they’re in for and how long they’re there,” Molenda said. “All that does is eats away at their integrity. We’re there to let them know there is life after prison.”

Molenda and his teammates usually win about as many games as they lose, he said. There are prison leagues, and the best players from the different teams typically band together to play Molenda and his teammates.

“It makes their month if we lose in the bottom of the seventh,” he said.

No matter who wins, the men all feel they are making a difference through their interactions with the prisoners, Molenda said.

“I tell them, ‘I’m no better than you, you don’t have to stay in a life of crime,’” he said. “It’s refreshing and encouraging for them to know someone else is out there that’s willing to give you another chance.”