In a tied 24-24 game, Brian M. was able to knock one out of the ballpark to hand the Alabama’s baseball club team its second loss of the season, in walk-off fashion.
In the finality of a community service program the club took part in, Alabama took on the red team of The Miracle League of Tuscaloosa. The red team gave Alabama all it could handle.
“Those guys out there were competitive,” said sophomore outfielder Bailey Whitten. “They were good, they could swing the bat a little bit, [and] they played good defense. It just wasn’t our day.”
Whitten, who will assume the role of president next year with current president Jeremy Terao graduating in the spring, will get the club to participate with the league next year.
“I think I can speak for every one of us that was out here, we had a ball while we were out here,” Whitten said. “Just seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces as they rounded third going to home made the trip worthwhile. It’s definitely something we’re doing next year.”
Sophomore outfielder Logan Brashier echoed Whitten’s sentiment.
“It was awesome, just being around the kids and seeing their smiles, there’s nothing better than that,” Brashier said. “Seeing them being able to compete against each other and still have fun for the love of the game is just incredible.”
“Every child deserves a chance to play baseball” reads the tagline of the website for the Miracle League of Tuscaloosa.
The league is a non-profit organization in Tuscaloosa that provides an opportunity for players with mental or physical disabilities to play baseball, regardless of age or previous experience.
Terao’s familiarity with the program was one of the reasons the club chose to work with the organization, along with the ability to help others.
“We just really wanted to get out and do a community service event,” Terao said. “We came out here a few years ago, and everyone enjoyed it. It’s fun to be able to come out and play baseball with people that are less fortunate, [and to] be able to help them out and have fun with them.”
Alabama is off to a 10-1 (8-1 in conference) start to the season, leading to a No. 18 ranking in the latest Rawlings Top 20 poll. The lone loss of the season came last week against UT-Chattanooga.
“So far it’s been really good, it’s been a success,” Terao said. “We’re on track of where we want to be. We are four conference games away from repeating for regionals. We’re in the driver’s seat, in a good spot.”
Terao believes the team is better than it was a year ago and that the team can get through the regionals and qualify for the world series this season.
While the world series is a realistic goal, Brashier cautioned that the team is not looking that far ahead, which has been a major reason for their success this year.
“I think we have really good team chemistry compared to last year,” Brashier said. “We’re all playing as one. We’re not looking into the future, worried about rankings, worried about the World Series, regionals or everything. We’re just taking it one game at time and focusing on that. Everybody picks each other up in the dugout, nobody lets each other get down. If we’re not playing well, we pick each other up and play as one.”
The baseball club will travel to Clemson, South Carolina, next weekend to take on the Clemson Tigers, hoping to avenge its loss against the red team Saturday.
