Playing with a Purpose

^^this is an example of a “pimp job”^^

Bullfrogs 2 (16-11)

Mallards 3 (18-11)

The win last night gave us sole position of first place with six games left in the first half. Going into last night’s game, three teams were tied for first (Madison, Green Bay, and Eau Claire), and Battle Creek was 1 game behind. Since we beat Green Bay and Battle Creek beat Eau Claire, the three other teams are now 1 game behind us. The winner of the first half gets an automatic bid into the Northwoods playoffs at the end of the season.

The day started early with Kids Camp. We showed up to the field at 8:45, so it was an early morning for the players who usually go to bed around 2. The camp ranged from ages 6-12, and like all camps, some kids were good and others were not so good. The one thing the kids did not lack was energy. They were so pumped to be there in front of the Mallards’ coaches and players. I was assigned to go work with the 6 and 7 year olds, an age group I am used to working with because of teaching Sunday School in Georgia. They were distracted a lot, but we worked on the basics (playing catch, groundballs, pop flys, and hitting). Nick Sutherland (Minnesota State) worked with the kids on pop flys and with the 6 year olds he used tennis balls. After they missed a ton in a row, he told them the ball either needs to hit them in the glove or on the head, so we know that they are trying. We signed autographs and sent them on their way.

I had 3 hours to kill, so I went home. I lied down in bed, exhausted, and thought about taking a nap. Then I decided the best thing to do would be to go workout. I went to the Princeton Club and got a really good workout in, then went to the field.

Without the nap, I was even more tired when I got to the field. I found some new energy though when I found out BP was going to be shirtless. Everyone (players and coaches) had to go shirtless before we could start. It was a lot of fun and we got better and got a tan. The only time we had done this before was during early work, so no one but the team knew about it. This time, the other team showed up and saw us having fun shirtless hitting. Personally, it was one of the best BP rounds of my life. I don’t know for sure if there was a correlation.

I finally got to take my first shower of the day around 6 because I had another off day. The game was awesome. Down 1-0 in the 6th with runners on 1st and 3rd, Justin Scanlon (Michigan State) laid down a perfect two-out drag bunt that no one played and it tied up the game. Green Bay pushed ahead with a solo home run, and then in the bottom of the 8th, Nate Theunissen hit a towering two-run home run to right field. He knew it off the bat, and “pimped” the home run that eventually left the stadium. “Pimping a home run” is when the person knows they hit a home run, so they watch it fly before they start running (picture above). Prince Fielder does it a lot. My dad would kill me if I ever did that- but Theunissen made it look good.

Can’t wait for Rhythm and Booms tomorrow night! There will be more than 100,000 people in Werner Park during the day and our game will be sold out. After the game, the largest fireworks display in the Midwest will take place. Apparently it takes 3 hours to get out of the parking lot, so I will try to find an alternate parking situation. Shirtless BP will be a must for tomorrow.

aB

^^cool car in front of our field^^

 

We left for Wausaw around 1130 on Monday and drove 2.5 hours there. We showed up extremely early because the bus needed work to be done on it, so typically we would go to a mall and hang out. I don’t know much about Wausau (if there is a mall there or we just didn’t look), but we ended up going to Gander Mountain, an outdoors store. North Carolina native, Zach White, checked out the hunting rifles, while other members walked around the giant store. I found a giant tent, pulled out a sleeping pad from a shelf nearby, and read, while others sat in chairs, kayaks, and slept in other tents. It took a good 10 minutes to round everyone up, but we made sure we had everyone before going to lunch.

We went to Burrachos, a burrito place, for lunch. I was so confused. This Burrachos looked IDENTICAL to a Chipotle. Everything in the interior (signs, tables, chairs, food, prices) looked exactly like those in Chipotle. It was weird, but since I like Chipotle, Burrachos hit the spot. In my last post I said our goal for the first game was to not “follow an off day with a day off,” but that’s exactly what we did. We didn’t pitch, hit, or field well, and the Woodchucks took Game 1 of the series. After the game, we got back on the bus and I sat there sending emails almost the entire way home. Jordan Owen (UT-Martin) listened to my iTunes the whole way back, and others got on Facebook or just slept. Having free wifi on the buses is a nice luxury of being on the Mallards and something I have never experienced. It would come in handy in the spring when you are riding back from a Tuesday night game and your paper is due at midnight, and then you have to sprint to the nearest computer lab to email it in two minutes before the deadline (I have never been in that situation…but it has happened to some of my friends).

I got home at 2, put in a load of laundry and went to bed. Today was bound to be a long day of baseball and I needed sleep. Today we had a doubleheader which was a make-up game for the rained out game the first week of June. To save some pitcher’s arms and to save time, we played two seven-inning games. BP started at 2, so I left the house at 1. The construction in downtown Madison was terrible today and it took 45 minutes to complete my usual 20 minute drive- good thing I left really early. The first game went by so fast, I now remember how quick high school games were. We lost Game 2, despite really good hitting by Jordan Owen. Going into the final game at home, we were down, but in order to win the first half, this game would be crucial. Michael Handel (Minnesota) crushed an RBI triple which put us on the board, and my teammate from school, Chris Lamb (Davidson), pitched pretty well for his first outing as a Mallard. The story of the game was in the bottom of the 7th (final inning), Justin Parr (Illinois) gets up with one out and hits a sky-scraping shot to right center to win the game! Coach was right when he said it takes some serious talent to hit a walk-off homerun, with the pressure and the fans and everything else, and Parr had it tonight. I was really happy for him- everyone on the team knows that Parr hits the most amount of linedrive outs on the team, so it was really nice to see him hit a 400 foot bomb that no one could catch.

Tomorrow we have some kind of camp with 500 kids at Warner Park in the morning. It will be a relatively early morning for me because the camp starts at 930, so I will get up at 830. The key phrase is that “early” is a relative term. More good news from tonight, first place Eau Claire lost, so I think we are only .5 games behind them with 7 games to go.

aB

(Photo by: Jim Addis. Maynard Duck zip-lining from right field to home plate before the game)

Loggers 1 (8-15)

Mallards 6 (16-8)

When my family used to go to Disney World when we were growing up, my dad claimed he only disliked one ride in the whole park- “It’s a Small World.” Looking back on that ride and its simple, annoying lyrics, and out-of-date thrills, I can see why he disliked it so much. This post has nothing to do with that ride. But, I had another “this is such a small world” moment today. 

The baseball community, especially in summerball, is so closely connected. When we first arrived in Madison, dozens of guys drilled others about players on their teams because they have played with them in the past. On almost every team we’ve played so far, I have been connected to one of the represented schools, which makes for good and endless conversation. My small world story from today starts two weeks before Madison.

Ashley Hearn, a girl from my high school in Georgia, graduated in my class and now attends the University of Wisconsin. When talking with one of her close friends two weeks before coming to Madison, I told her friend that I would be playing for the Mallards in Madison, WI, and her friend responds, “I am pretty sure Ashley Hearn is working for that team this summer.” There are probably a few hundred college summer league teams, and the fact that a girl from my high school in Cumming, GA is working for the team I am playing for this summer is so neat. Not only that, but she has an internship with ESPN Madison this summer. I got lucky and had the opportunity today to do a recorded interview for her summer sports radio talk show. I sat down with her and her co-host, Peter Swanson, and talked about the Mallards, Davidson, and about high school. If you live in Madison and would like to check it out, it will be aired 4 p.m. this Monday on 91.7 FM (WSUM- the Wisconsin student station). I had a great time and was so glad I got to do that.

Going into today’s game, we were still .5 game back of Eau Claire. We have won 7 of our last 10, but we have not gained ground because Eau Claire has done the same. Our goal is to win the first half of the Northwoods League season and we have about 10 games left. It looks like it will come down to the wire, with a big last series against the Express July 4-6. We won again tonight behind another great start from Joel Effertz (Madison College). Our offense struggled tonight against La Crosse’s starter who threw 100% cutters (the famous pitcher of Mariano Rivera), but we knew we would score more when they went to the bullpen. That’s exactly what happened and we turned a 1-1 game into a 6-1 game and won by that score. The two big promotions for tonight were fireworks (whoohoo!) and playing catch on the field after the game. The team passed out around 200 baseballs so that families could play catch in centerfield. That was a huge success and the fans came to get their ball signed after they were done. It was a bit overwhelming, but Willie Argo (Illinois) said it best when he said, “As long as people still want my autograph, I am happy to keep signing.” And sign we did. I believe the 6,750 fans who packed the ballpark (and the Duck Blind) left happy.

Congrats to the newlyweds who came to the game tonight in the bachelor and bachelorette parties! The groom-to-be took a few cuts during bp today and whiffed a lot. Then, his soon to be wife dug into the box and started crushing line drives all over the field. Did I also mention that his soon-to-be wife was in her wedding dress and high heels! Hilarious.

Eating, sleeping, dreaming about baseball 24/7- that’s what life this summer has been. Right now, I wouldn’t want to do anything other than that. Tomorrow is our first day off and it is well deserved. Since nearly everything I do revolves around baseball, I’m going to a baseball game tomorrow! It will be my first trip to Miller Park as the Brewers complete their series against the Twins (which is becoming a big inter-league rivalry). There will be pictures. I lifted at midnight tonight so I would not have to lift on my off day. Great decision. Now it is the 3 a.m. and I’m waking up at 8 to eat breakfast. Sorry readers, I know it’s long.

aB

Rafters 4 (3-15)

Mallards 5 (11-7)

Today was Father’s Day so Dad if you ever read this, I hope you had a good one. Today was also exciting because we had a walk off win in the 10^th inning!

Most games during the week are 7:05 start times, but Sunday games start at 3:05. We took some shirtless BP today, which is a bonus of playing in summer ball. Getting a tan (T) while getting better= killing two birds with one stone.

The game was awesome even though we made it a bit too exciting. We managed to squabble a 3-run lead against the worst team in the league, but I had faith we would come back and win it. Just like Coach Labbe said, “Good teams figure out ways to win.” I lead off the 10^th inning with a walk, then stole second, moved to third with a passed ball, and Tyler Jones (Long Island) hit a hard ball that hit off the third baseman’s glove, and I scored. WALK OFF WIN! I immediately was embraced by the half of the team who came to hug me, and the other half went to first, where Jones was. I gave Jordan Owen (UT Martin) a little chest bump and there was a lot of smiles and laughter after.

As for the game, Mike McQuillen (Iowa) hit a 400-foot bomb to the power alley in right center. During this week, coach gave me some sound advice that I should leave my ‘SAT Brain’ at the gate when I get to the field. It was his way of saying “Play Dumb,” but it is funny and has stuck. Like a lot of ballplayers, I tend to over think things and most of the time the best players simply react and trust their preparation. Today, I had three walks and three steals- both firsts for me. For every steal the team gets during the season, TDS donates $25 to JDRF, so tonight I helped raise $75. Tonight I was a dirtbag- by the third inning I was already covered in dirt, which soon mixed with sweat to become mud. Because of the steals and a few plays in the field, my jersey was by far the dirtiest today. The fans loved it! After the game, I got a lot of comments from fans about how dirty my jersey was and that my mom was lucky she didn’t have to wash it. The way I see it, the dirtier my jersey is, the more times I am getting on base and helping the team. Therefore, there is a direct correlation to how dirty I get and how well I play.

Right now I am a happy camper. Jim Gaffigan says the only ‘happy camper’ is the “one leaving the campsite,” but I am one watching the Top 80 Plays of the Week on MLB Network. There are so many spectacular catches, diving plays, and clutch hits which make up the highlights every week. It is so amazing seeing how talented these guys are and which solidifies why they are professionals. This show also makes it apparent that there will never be another .400 hitter in Major League Baseball. Today’s speedy outfielders don’t let anything drop for base hits and brilliant infielders crushed always rob people of hits by great diving plays. It’s so cool to just sit back and admire them for what they do.

I went to the gym (G) after the game. So the G and T are accounted for. Have to do some L before our three-game road trip to Waterloo, Iowa tomorrow. G,T,L- what a stupid show.

aB

We left for the one-day trip to Green Bay around noon. The bus ride took a little over two hours- just enough time for one movie- Old School. Great one liners are essential for any bus movie, and Old School definitely exceeds the minimum. We had a little time to spare and decided to take the scenic route, around Lambeau Field. What a site! I have officially placed it on my bucket list to see a game there.

The game did not go our way. We ended up losing 9-0 after Green Bay put up 15 hits to our six. Cash Collins (Wofford) pitched his third game of the season, and pitched well, but picked up the loss. Since Cash pitched so much in the spring for his school, his coach wanted to limit his innings this summer, so Cash was only on a temp contract and left immediately after the game. Also, my buddy J. Golden (Blackhawk College) played his last game with us on the second game of the series. Everytime I see my Davidson College shorts, I will think of him and how we “almost traded shorts.” During the summer, temp guys will leave for many reasons: to take summer courses, limit innings, etc., but those guys are still a huge part of making my whole summer experience so great. Niko Fraser (Elon) made an interesting point that we will have a whole new team in 20 days- that’s pretty close to being true. But, as guys leave, more new guys will come in.

On the way back home, I sat with Nick Sutherland (Minnesota State) who is trying to get 6-10 D1 guys to transfer to his school. He is the clown on the team and reminds me a lot of Will Ferrell. Nick’s dad owns two teams in the league, The Brainard Area Lunkers and The St. Cloud Rivers Bats. I learned a lot from him about the ins and outs of owning a summer college team- pretty neat. One interesting point he made is that players in the league pray for an occasional rainout (one day rest would be nice), but the owners pray for sunshine. The owners have so much to lose ($) when rainouts happen due to ticket sales, concessions, and other items, and the double headers that replace them hardly counter the losses from the missed game. 

This morning five guys on the team went to a school in the small town of Oregon, WI to talk with a class of about 40 kids. We had no idea what to expect, but we just ended up meeting them, answering some of their questions, and signing autographs. I have found myself say a lot this summer: “If I was a kid…I would’ve loved to _______.” Recently it has been “be the batboy, go to Mallards’ games, but today it was “have a group of college baseball players come to my school to hang out.” After the trip, a few of us went to Barnes & Noble to hang out and read (yes, I’m a nerd). I got deeper into The Girl Who Plays with Fire and can’t wait until it all starts unraveling.

Game 2 of the series was today at home. Green Bay came to our place and beat us again, 15-3. It was a Friday night, so there was a live band at the Duck Pond, but nonetheless, Green Bay beat us in every aspect of the game. We are on a two-game losing streak and it has not been fun. We have a mandatory fielding workout tomorrow at 2 before our 6 p.m. game that I am partially responsible for. I guess it will give me the opportunity to get better though.

I need an icebath,

aB

photo by: Jim Addis

Express 4 (8-6)

Mallards 8 (8-5)

When I left my last post, I was on the bus ride back from Battle Creek about to go to sleep. These buses are a major upgrade from the yellow school bus, or “The Big Cheese,” we rode last year in The Valley League, but nonetheless, it is still hard to sleep on them. I can never get comfortable; the awkward headrests and lack of legroom always equals no sleep for me. On the past two road trips, Niko Fraser (Elon) and Justin Parr (Illinois) have shown me the best way to sleep on a bus- in the aisle, on the ground. You might think, “Ew, that’s so gross…Do you know who has stepped there before?” but I promise Mom, I will wash my pillowcase, so it’s all good. Despite occasionally being kicked in the face by a teammate, sleeping on the floor is by far the best way to sleep on a bus. I slept the last three hours of the trip and only got kicked in the face once.

Entering today, I had played three games at home and gone hitless in all three. It was about time to turn that around. My first at bat, I hit one to the warning track- getting closer. Second at bat, weak fly out to center. Third at bat, after being blown away by a 2-1 fastball, the pitcher came right back with it and I was fortunate to connect. I hit the ball hard, and being helped by some 30 mph wind gusts to right, my ball bounced off the scoreboard in right center for my first hit at home. I learned something today- the fans at Madison really love the longball. It was a packed house on a Tuesday night and the fans erupted. The bomb put the team up 5-0, and when I got back in the dugout our bat boy looked at me with big eyes and said, “Andrew, you just got us custard!” Everytime the Mallards score five at home, the fans can go to Culver’s after the game to get free frozen custard. It was such a cool experience. 

Jumpy Garcia (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) is a fan favorite in Madison 1) because his name is Jumpy and 2) because he drops bombs. He also had a big fly on the night, moving his total to three on the year.

After the game we signed autographs, which has not gotten old yet (and probably never will). One man approached me and asked if I had hit the homerun to right field during the game. I said yes and he asked me if I could sign the ball for his 3 year old son. That was such a cool gesture by him and I did it with delight! I also stayed up and talked to my host dad, who coaches baseball, for over an hour.

Tomorrow we have our first skills camp for the younger kids. Don’t make us out to be angels just yet…we do get a small amount for coaching at the camp :). I plan on using the money to replace my old, worn-down workout headphones. We have one more game with Eau Claire before going to Green Bay on Thursday. We still stand in second place, but I am sensing a winning streak coming up.

aB

Mallards 2 (7-5)

Bombers 4 (9-4)

For the past three days we have been on a road trip to Battle Creek, MI, which is a good six hours from Madison. The reason I have not posted daily is, frankly, the trip to Battle Creek, MI did not deserve a daily post. I am sorry if you or your close ones are from Battle Creek, but it is kind of a crappy town. The only cool thing in the town is that it is the home of Kellogg’s cereal.

After this past Friday night’s game, the bus rolled out at 7 a.m. Saturday morning. Since I have recently grown accustomed to sleeping in until 11 a.m., the 5:45 wake up call was a rough one. I drove 30 minutes to the field to get on a bus for six hours. We entered the series .5 games behind Battle Creek for first place, and went 1-2 on the weekend. It is still really early, but we have to step it up a little bit in the next 10 games to grab the lead in the South Division.

The first game was rough. I honestly don’t remember much about the game because it wasn’t very exciting. Battle Creek plays at an above average stadium, but surprisingly draws the least fans in the Northwoods- around 200 a game. The Bombers also had some pretty brutal, uncreative in-game promotions, mostly consisting of two kids foot racing. I played but not well and the team lost. That was our 10th game in a row, and after the game we had a post-game meeting about going through the motions mentally during the game. The speech must have worn off because Sunday’s game was a slugfest and we won, 11-1.

Saturday we ate breakfast at Burger King. I shouldn’t complain because the meal was free, but The “BK Lounge” is far from a tasty way to start the day. While at BK, I saw them advertise for their new gift cards, which look like something cool to flash when you enter “The Lounge.” “Hey buddy, I like Burger King! If you don’t like it you don’t have to go there!” (in the Jim Gaffigan voice). Nevertheless, we dominated Game 2. Saturday’s game was interesting because it was “Bark in the Park” night for Battle Creek. What is the appeal for “Bark in the Park?” I love dogs, I love baseball, let’s combine them?? Kind of a ridiculous idea. It was fun watching the trick dog in between innings. Fortunately, our team could “refocus” on the game when it was time and score runs. Tom Windle (Minnesota) pitched a great game and we had good at bats the whole game.

After the game, we had the whole night to ourselves, and at 9 p.m. walked through all the rooms to find everyone curled up in their beds watching NCAA superregional action. The season is/ will continue to be a grind. On a side note: I woke up this a.m. and worked out (explosiveness and abs). Hopefully the ab workout will somewhat counter the absurd amount of pizza I ate this weekend on the road. Today resembled Game 1 in that it was a tough loss. We went into the seventh inning up 2-1 and they scored three. They held the lead and beat us, 4-2. Now we’re back on the bus for six hours- probably landing in Madison around 4 a.m. Game again tomorrow at home against Green Bay. I am pumped because our catcher at Davidson, Daniel Gerow, plays for them. Gotta get some sleep on the bus and come out with something to prove. We go back to Battle Creek in August near the end of the season, and I am not looking forward to that. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Songs of the day:

“As” by Stevie Wonder/ “As” by Chris Standring

“Aftermath” by Hillsong United

aB

Bucks 2 (4-6)

Mallards 7 (6-3)

A Friday night at the Duck Pond what a sight. It was supposed to storm all day, but the weather held up and we won. This post is about today (like typical posts) and also some important things I have left out of previous posts.

I slept in, did some laundry, and got to the gym around noon. Yes, Madison is different than Davidson because I have to do my own laundry. I knew today was my off day, so I busted it harder in the weight room. I did work out hard, but the person who worked the hardest while I was there was a girl. She was wearing a Wyoming shirt, I suppose she plays soccer there, and for her last set of squats, she put up 225! Not only was it 225lb., which is what I do in season, but she was doing full, deep squats. Beast mode! I was with two other Mallards players and we stood across the gym, staring with our jaws wide open. What do they feed these girls out here???

I got to the field for early work and took some extra cuts and ran some sprints. Then we took regular BP and some guys did team Bible study before getting ready. Since today was my off day, I took a shower and got ready to relax and watch a baseball game. The pitcher for Waterloo had our number for the first four innings, but then we started to score in bunches. Big hits came from J. Golden (Blackhawk College), Justin Parr (Illinois), and Tyler Jones (Long Island). Nate Theunissen (Central Michigan) also had a huge bomb of his own. Miguel Tejada, the shortstop for the Giants, started a reward system for big hits. When someone gets a clutch hit, he put one open hand in the air and pretended it was a spotlight. The Texas Rangers have also taken this and made it into “The Claw.” We copied off of them and when anyone gets a big hit, they get to do “The Quack” (two hands in the air and clamping them together, like a talking hand). Tonight, we got to “quack” a lot. After home game wins, we get to toss squishy balls into the stands, so tonight was the first time we got to do that.

—So I have forgotten to put some items in previous posts, for no apparent reason. Most of these have happened in the past week, so I am only a little late on them. First, before last night’s home game, there was the cannonball man! Some guy jumped out of a cannon, went about 100 ft. long and 80 ft. in the air, and landed in a giant net at home plate, as the National Anthem was concluding. AMERICA! Another big adventure in Madison recently was talking my way out of a $150 parking ticket downtown (don’t tell my mom). It was pouring the night our game was cancelled, and I couldn’t see the handicap sign above my spot- obviously, I wouldn’t have parked there if I had known. Anyways, the parking police guy asked for my handicap sticker, which I don’t have, and then I had to talk my way out of the ticket. I don’t know if it was the downpouring excuse or that I mentioned I was a Mallard, but I got away with only a warning. Since my mom reads this blog, I will probably get a call or text as soon as she reads this. Lastly, in completely random news, there will be a girl wrestler at Davidson next year. That will be interesting. Wrestling a girl is a lose-lose situation. In 6^th grade, I arm wrestled a girl down the street and lost. I haven’t arm wrestled a girl since.

Leaving for Battle Creek, Michigan, home of Kellogg’s Cereal, at 7 a.m. That means arriving at the field at 6:30, probably waking up around 5:40. I’ve been so busy that I haven’t cleaned my room in a while. Gotta do that and pack. Night!

Ducks win!

aB

Photo by: Melissa Lee

Woodchucks 7 (2-5)

Mallards 6 (5-2)

Today marked the season opener of the newly improved Duck Pond. In the offseason, $1.8 million had been used to improve the stadium and the entire city of Madison had been anticipating this night. Throughout the whole day, the coaches and players were doing pregame interviews for ESPN Madison and local newspapers. When I got to the field at 2:45 for the 7:05 game, I saw a group of tailgaters already in the parking lot! Not only did they beat the players to the field, but apparently they showed up at noon- there are some crazy sports fans here.

Pregame was a lot of fun. I got to watch our pitchers take batting practice as a reward for pitching a shutout two nights before. There were some pretty awful swings by the group, but I was impressed by Zach White (Wake Forest), Cash Collins (Wofford), and Nick Sutherland (Minnesota State Mankato). In the locker room, instead of listening to music, the team listened to the MLB draft, and I heard two of my teammates from Davidson, Chris Lamb (11th round to the A’s) and Andy Bass (18th round to the Rays), go in the draft! I’m so proud of both of them because I know how hard those guys work on a daily basis. For the Mallards, we also had two guys get drafted- Ryan Bores (26th round to the Rangers) and Chris Burgess (30th round to the Rays). 

After listening to the draft for awhile, we noticed fans began to pack the stadium. Tonight’s attendance was 6,511! Maynard Duck, the team mascot, despite having trouble in the pregame with the zipline, came soaring in from the right field stands and the game was underway. I had the night off, but the game was still more than anything I could ever imagine. I grew up in Omaha, NE and I honestly think that the CWS is the only thing that would top what I experienced tonight. The fans got on their feet when Jumpy Garcia (Texas A&M- Corpus Christi) went yard and when Travis Parker (St. Louis University) got two two-out RBI hits. Everything was great, even the announcer. If a fan catches a ball at the game, they can exchange the ball for a hot dog at the concession stand, so for every foul ball, the announcer yells, “WWWWWWeeeeiner.” Sorry, I’m immature, I thought it was funny though. Despite the loss, the fans still had a great time and the team signed autographs for about 30 min. after the game. I felt like a celebrity to all those little kids. Game again tonight at 7:05. The Mackesey’s will be there.

Speaking of celebrities, tonight’s random shout out goes to my sister, who danced on stage with Katy Perry at her concert. It is a long story, but apparently her group of friends tweeted at one of her backup dancers that they knew and he “hooked them up”- big time! Here’s the proof.

aB

Mallards 4 (4-1)

Loggers 8 (2-3)

The Loggers handed us our first loss tonight. The highlight of the game for us was the welcoming back of two former Mallards, Jumpy Garcia (Texas A&M Corps Christi) and Justin Scanlon (Michigan State). Jumpy’s real name is John Pierre, but when he says “John P.” really fast, it sounds like “Jumpy.” Anyways, both Jumpy and Scanlon showed up yesterday and started off their seasons hot today. On Jumpy’s first swing in his first at bat, he crushed a ball close to 375 ft. over the left field wall. A few batters later, Scanlon took his first swing of the summer, and also crushed his first homerun. Welcome back to the Mallards, guys. After the two helped us to a 3-0 lead in the 2nd, the Loggers came back in the 3rd and scored five runs. Back when the Loggers only had two runs, with two outs in the 3rd, there was a controversial call at the plate. Niko Fraser (Elon) delivered a bullet from center field and the umpire called the runner safe at home. If the play went our way, the inning would have been over; unfortunately three more runs scored that inning. The Loggers added three late in the game, and we only answered with one, falling 8-4

On the bus ride back right now- watching Dumb and Dumber. What a great movie/ bus movie. So many great lines. This is probably my 20th time watching it. I can’t believe there are still some people out there who have not seen this movie. Do you live under a rock? Harsh…but true.

The goal is not to lose two in a row. Tomorrow we travel to Wausau, Wisconsin to battle the Woodchucks. Hopefully we can come back tomorrow night with a 5-1 record before we open up the packed Duck Pond on Tuesday night.

Song of the day: Oldie but a goodie: “Background” by Lecrae feat. C-Lite. Listen to it.

aB