On July 1st, a beautiful summer evening following the previous day’s rainout, the 3rd and Girard softball team took the field late in the second game of a doubleheader against Standard Tap to do the unthinkable:

Win their first game.

Freddie Renzulli owns local bar and restaurant 3rd and Girard; he also plays on, manages and sponsors their team. He has seen the game losses pile up since opening the bar two years ago. But this is not his first team; he is a 12-year veteran of the Philadelphia Bar and Restaurant Softball League (PBR). After a decade-long stint as owner of 12 Steps Down (a South Philly lounge) and sponsor of its historically solid softball club, Renzulli came to Northern Liberties for a new business venture.

Renzulli learned of the location for his new establishment from rival teams in the league.

“I always drove by the building and thought it was an amazing space,” he remembered, “even though it was unloved and under appreciated; just an old, beautiful bar.”

The late-19th century building, situated on the corner of 3rd Street and Girard Avenue (as you may have gathered), needed relatively little work. The renovations Renzulli enlisted were mostly utilitarian, with a few aesthetic exceptions: he added new appliances, and some new furniture here and there. The stage installed on the bar’s second floor provides live entertainment to go along with its selection of 180 craft beers and an endless quantity of Pabst Blue Ribbon.

So while Renzulli may have found success in the trendy NoLibs scene, the softball gods had other ideas when it came time to form and field his team.

“We went from a typically 9-9 team [with 12 Steps Down], immediately to an 0-18 team,” Renzulli said. “We started out getting blown out and mercy-ruled.”

Renzulli built his new roster opposite from the way he built his bar: from scratch.

3rd and Girard had no recruits from 12 Steps Down, a not-uncommon occurrence when forming a new team. The team was strung together by a combination of bar regulars, employees from local businesses and friends from the neighborhood. This sort of mixed bag is risky in a league where teams keep their core rosters for years at a time.

The lack of cohesiveness showed. The losing streak started with game one and just… kept going.

“We had lost 33 in a row,” Renzulli said. “It took a year and a half to start to come together.”

But slowly, the team started battling and coming together in a bond forged through rec league adversity. Over the 33 losses, they were gaining trust in one another.

“We were starting to play the best teams in the league closely,” Renzulli said, “within one or two runs five innings in.”

Finally, on that fateful early July evening, 3rd and Girard found themselves in a marathon match against another NoLibs staple in Standard Tap.

“We’d score five in the first, and then they’d answer with five,” Renzulli said. “Then we’d score three, and they’d score three. Then we started pulling away. Every time Standard Tap put up runs, we answered.”

“We could taste it,” he said.

Luke Demi, a veteran outfielder for 3rd and Girard, remembers his team keeping collective focus despite feeling the win.

“We would have the lead and see it slip away,” he said, “and see one error lead to the collapse of an inning or game.”

So when a long, lazy fly ball came his way, it was as if Demi himself slowed time to make an amazing play. “I backtracked and put my glove up, and the ball popped out,” he said. “But I fell on my back, and grabbed the ball in the air with my hand. Once that circus catch happened, we knew we’d get the win.”

When the final out was made, 3rd and Girard stood atop the scoreboard for the 27-21 victory.

“There was much elation, and people were beside themselves,” said Renzulli, who filled his bar for the celebration. “Closing time ran late that night.”

Demi remembers the moment as well.

“We were hugging and high-fiving,” he said, “but we were happy Freddie could see the win. Standard Tap came back [to 3rd and Girard] with us too and drank.”

It is the camaraderie of the league mixed with true competitiveness that creates such a great atmosphere for players and coaches alike. While the rules and regulations are stricter than you’d think for a co-ed rec softball league, they keep the fun of the game intact.

Jackie Vereb, 29, is in her seventh season with Northern Liberties’ The Druid’s Keep, a perennial powerhouse in the league. She said that despite the competition during games, teams always go back to the opposition’s bar to hang out afterward.

“The whole team is basically my social circle,” Vereb said. “All of our friends play together, but the whole league is close-knit like that.”

Vereb grew up playing softball. After finding a home in PBR, she and her boyfriend now drive all the way from Delaware County to play in the games.

The PBR league is made up of 15 teams in three divisions. The Elite division features the five best teams from the previous year; this maintains parity throughout the league. The Druid’s Keep and North Bowl represent the Riverwards in that division.

The South division hosts five teams from South Philly, while the North division is home to neighborhood familiars like Standard Tap, Johnny Brenda’s, The El Bar, 3rd and Girard, and newcomer Flotation Philly.

Flotation Philly (534 E. Girard Ave.), a health spa specializing in sensory deprivation tank experiences, is one of the only non-restaurants in the league. Like Renzulli, Flotation owner Russ Stewart also sponsors and manages his new team and is a longtime veteran player/manager in the league.

As a new businessman in the area, Stewart sees the indirect marketing from the league as a huge boost.

“I’ve had at least 50 players come and check us out since we’ve started up,” he said. “I don’t have a huge advertising budget, so … having this outreach to the players in a league that I’ve been invested in for years is really big for me.”

Stewart, Renzulli, and the other sponsors and captains hold meetings in the preseason (which must bear striking resemblance to the Meeting of the Five Families scene from The Godfather) to decide finances and rule changes. Stewart says the meetings are another businesslike, yet fun, way to “hold onto our youth and … enjoy pretending that we’re playing club softball like Major League Baseball.”

At the end of the day, PBR is all about community.

Renzulli, who still tends bar himself at 3rd and Girard on weekends, tries to combat the insular lifestyle that cellphone addiction can induce. He suggests that “all the Northern Liberties businesses [should] reach out and get to know each other socially.” This is what the PBR league exemplifies.

Demi says Renzulli has 3rd and Girard ready to be noticed, now that they have the losing-streak monkey off its collective back.

“We set the foundation,” he said. “We’ve got the core team down. Next year is when we come out and people pay attention.”

Demi says the league itself is also in good hands. “There are a lot of rules and regulations; it’s really is a well-run league,” he said.“I’m excited to be a part of this league for hopefully decades to come.”