How can you not get romantic about baseball? – Moneyball
If young kids were to have Twitter accounts, and you were to read their Tweets leading up to Christmas morning, they would sound eerily similar to the Tweets of an Elon Phoenix baseball player leading up to the arrival of Opening Day. The Phoenix baseball players’ calendars show February 17 being highlighted, starred and circled. Whether you are a senior or a freshman, the butterflies fluttering in your stomach on Opening Day are inevitable. Quinn, who earned his first start as a collegiate baseball player today, posted his Facebook status thursday night as, “first college game tomorrow!!! time to put all the hard work onto the field!! Chances of sleep tonight= .05%”. Then Bird, who absolutely slammed the door for the save on George Mason in today’s second win of a doubleheader, Tweeted the same night: “Funny seein all freshman tweet about their first game… Truth is you never lose that feeling #LiveForThis #GameDay”
From both ends of the collegiate spectrum, those two summarized the unanimous ambiance flowing around our team the past few days.
So, for the teachers who may not have had the full attention of the Phoenix in class on Friday morning, we apologize, we were drooling with excitement about putting on the new uniforms, hearing our walk-out songs, and playing the game we’ve loved all our lives.
Friday’s 7-1 victory against Akron was filled with regularities from veterans like Webb and Gomi, who both put together jaw-dropping performances that Phoenix fans should be accustomed to. Webb, through seven innings of two-hit baseball, flirted with a “no-no” before being taken out. For those who don’t know, Webb threw a one-hitter in his junior year of high school during the state championship game to give his team the victory. Hitters get depressed facing Webb. Gomi gave truth to the expression “big things come in small packages,” hitting a grand slam and a double for a combined five RBIs on the day. Accompanying those two were the newcomers on the field, such as Elefante, Casey and Tomko, who all got their first collegiate at-bats, and Nelli with his first appearance. Tomko had me holding my breath with his deep fly ball to dead center field, I thought he may have broken the ice to college baseball going “ya ya” (home run). We’ll get him some more time with Coach Mac and then watch those balls fly.
In a quick turnaround from last night, we played a doubleheader starting with us getting to the field at 7:45 a.m. and game time at 10 a.m. Nothing says an early morning at Elon better than Biscuitville, so for those brilliant teammates of mine who filled their bodies with that fine establishment’s deliciousness, you are wise.
In the first game today, we got to see the recurring event of Dylan making good college hitters lose confidence in their abilities as he zipped through seven innings, allowing just one run. For those hitters who have to face Webb on Friday night and then Dylan on Saturday, I am sorry. As the top of the eighth inning rolled around, we heard “Cold As Ice” by Foreigner over the loudspeakers. McDoogie was on the mound. McDoogie, oftentimes given the nickname of the “silent assassin,” didn’t choose a walk-out song for himself this year so the older players chose one for him. Fitting to the song’s lyrics, Doogie makes hitters go “cold as ice” and in his Division I college debut, he did what we will see him do many times in a Phoenix uniform, “close the door.” Also in the game, McVicar got his first collegiate hit, a ripped single to right-center field that led the team to start yelling out “Charger” (pronounced “Ch-aaaa-jaaa” in a Boston accent, a reference to McVic’s car and hometown).
The second game of the “double dipper” today was dramatic. In the eighth inning, with two outs, we were losing 3-0 when sparks started to fly and the beauty of baseball was put on display. Baseball is like jazz music, you never know when it’s going to end. That’s why it’s beautiful. The rally included Garrett, Luce, Brez, the twins and myself. We went into the top of the ninth inning winning, 4-3 with Bird on the mound. Bird made his closing role debut and was electric, striking out two in three batters faced to end the game. In that game, Nate got his first Division I win after scoring two scoreless innings of relief. I would also like to give Nate’s walk-out song a bias shout out. It’s called “Beyond Belief” by Lecrae, lend it your ear.
After three games so far in the season, we’ve learned a few things that you can’t find in the box score: Whitehead’s curveball makes batters look like they are trying to do the wave with their bodies, Pennell’s hair flow under his hat is big league-esque, and Serra’s Spanish walk-out song makes people at the game think they are on the set of “Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights.”
Come on out and support the Phoenix!
Elon Baseball 