Here’s something you probably didn’t know: A national softball force is based right here in the heart of downtown Denver.

After beating the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers in a series April 2 and 3 (recap via The Metropolitan), the Metro State Roadrunners are leading the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference 24-3 overall with a 21-2 conference record and are listed at number four in this week’s Division II poll, reports The Denver Post. The team leads Division II in home runs and kills it with pitching, too. That’s quite remarkable for a $200,000-a-year program only in its third year, which had been dormant since 1990.

At the heart of the team is Christie Robinson, a dominant pitcher (10-1 this season) who transferred from UNLV last year after trying to handle the pressures of playing for a Division I program and pregnancy. Metro State coach Jen Fisher convinced Robinson to give Denver and Metro State a try, and now Robinson’s young son, Jaden, is a fixture with the team, joining the women for many practices and games.

“We’re all like his aunts,” says catcher Lauren Hainlen.

Coach Fisher adds the way Robinson juggles her school responsibilities and Jaden is a good example for the other students.

“You can look at him as being a distraction or you can look at him as adding to our team,” Fisher says. “We are trying to teach life skills here, not just softball, and it’s really neat for our players that don’t have children yet to see what it takes.”