Playing with a Purpose

Bombers 4

Mallards 5 (final 13 innings)

What a game. In the past week, I think we have come back from a deficit in the 8th, 9th, and 13th, and won those three games. It has been an exciting week with a lot of exciting baseball. Pinch hitting in the 10th, Mike McQuillen (Iowa) hit a two-run triple and later scored to tie the game up 4-4 and move it to the 11th. In the 13th inning, Niko Fraser (Elon) laid down a perfect bunt to score the winning run. Walkoff! We all sprinted out and tackled him in short right field. So much fun.

On arriving to the field today, around 12:30, the preparations for Rhythm and Booms were about done. There were food stands, a concert stage, a carnival, and lots of people ready for a day of hanging out. During batting practice a concert went on- a cover band that botched a lot of songs. After the game, the team showered and got ready for the largest fireworks show in the MidWest! In the down time before the show, fans packed into the stadium to watch The Rookie on our JumboTron (I don’t know what to call it, because it’s not that big) scoreboard. The picture above is when the fans were watching the movie. Also, another cool promotion we took advantage of tonight was the 1 cent movie coupons from Charter Communications. If any Mallard hits a triple at home, everyone gets one cent movie coupons, so the fans were happy about that. After my shower, I talked to Mr. Cole (my dad’s boss) who drove over from Chicago with his son Elliot. The awkward part was that I was signing autographs and I had to sign another college-aged man’s boob, while talking to my dad’s boss. Crazy fans.

I walked over to Jonathan Crawford’s (Florida) host family’s house because Michelle, his host mom, was throwing a block party for the fireworks show. His house was three blocks walk from the field. We sat there and ate some delicious pulled pork and cheesy potatoes and watched the fireworks. There was one GIANT tree that was in the way of our view of the show, but fortunately, most of the fireworks went above the tree. Suprise of the night: former Wisconsin Badger and Heisman Trophy Winner Ron Dane showed up to the party after the fireworks show. We got a picture with him- pretty cool.

My first Rhythm and Booms experience was amazing. We won the game, watched The Rookie, saw a fantastic fireworks show, and met Ron Dane. It was a night I will never forget. My only regret is that I did not get any pictures of the fireworks show because I forgot to charge my camera the night before.

The win last night pushed us to 2 games ahead of second place. We will continue to do shirtless BP today and hopefully win, getting us closer to clinching the first half. Five games are left. Home game tonight at 5:05.

aB