July 29, 2008
TUESDAY, JULY 29TH
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It took exactly 24 hours from the time we left the hotel in Brno to get to my home in Norfolk. The long day of travel included leaving the hotel at 4 a.m., driving two hours to Prague, flying to Frankfurt then to DC, taking a taxi with Mike to BWI to catch our Southwest Flights, and finally making it back to Norfolk. The day went fast though since nearly everyone stayed up all night after the unbelievable game the night before.
The team could not have asked for a better way to end the summer. It was only fitting that the most difficult game to win all summer was the last. Both starting pitchers went into the 10th inning. We missed several opportunities to score early, we couldn’t get a bunt down, got picked off, and just couldn’t find a big two-out RBI even when the ball was hit well. Mike Minor faced the minimum 27 batters through 9 innings, walking none and giving up only 2 hits (and then picked the first guy off and induced the other into a double play).
When Tommy Mendonca (Fresno St) got thrown out at home in the 12th to make the second out of the inning, we thought the game may never end. Hunter Morris (Auburn) then came through though with his second game winning hit in our last three games. Watching from the bullpen was a better prospective than the dugout, because the shortstop shielded the ball and it looked like he may have come up with the catch to end the inning.
After we scored, I continued to get Kendall Volz ready to close out the game for us. After a single to lead off the inning and a sacrifice bunt, the Japanese runner attempted to steal third. The umpire was behind Mendonca and didn’t see that he had the base blocked and called the runner safe at 3rd. Volz came up with a huge strikeout to get the second out and then gave up a groundball that Christian Colon (Fullerton) fielded and made the final out, leading to the dog pile at first. Eric Campbell had packed an American flag that he kept in the bullpen for me to run in with from the outfield to jump on top of the dog pile. It was the first dog pile in my life and was a pretty special experience.
The team celebrated with the flag, trophy, and medals for awhile after the game, almost in disbelief at what we had accomplished. The 2008 National Team had the lowest ERA ever for a summer (0.88) and was the first team ever to go undefeated! Although it was sad to leave everyone, it’s very nice to be home after being away since June 10. I’m excited to have a few weeks at home before coming back to Nashville to start grad school.
Thanks for reading my summer blog.
