AFL Rising Stars Game: This game was an awesome experience for me. To be honest, I was 99.9% sure I wasn’t going to get an invite to this game. Batting around .150, my bags were all but packed to Vegas for the two days off. As bummed as I was that Sin City had to be put on hold, I was shocked/excited that I had been selected to participate in the game. Each team had loads of talent on their squad and for anyone who watched the game can back me up on that. It was a pitcher’s duel for most of the game. Now there are some extremely talented hitters in this league, but the pitching just took over the Rising Stars game.  I can honestly say, (although two weeks later), I only remember two or three guys that came in the game throwing under 95 mph. Each bullpen was just shoving out power arm after power arm. The most impressive pitcher of the game came when Milwaukee Brewers stud, Jeremy Jeffress, hit 101 mph on the gun. Don’t know how many times I’ve seen triple digits flash up on the board, but I know it hasn’t been many. So, to see 101 mph was kind of cool, even got a little standing ovation.  Not surprising because the crowd was responsive all night. Great group of genuine baseball fans came out to the game that night. And as luck would have it, I had to play third base in the game. Would have preferred to play 2nd base, but if the skip says third, then third it is.  Fortunately, I made both plays that I was involved with and even got a double down the right field line during my only at-bat. And to top it all off, we won on a walk-off homerun in the bottom of the 9th inning. Not only did the homerun give us the victory but it also gave our side a little extra spending cash, which put a smile on everyone’s face. Vegas would have been fun, just ask any 23 year old guy about that. But not a bad alternative way to spend my weekend if you ask me. 

Peoria Javelinas:  We’ve been on fire lately, probably the hottest team in the league if I had to guess.  Our offense just hits constantly, almost always having one or two innings where we score multiple runs. Our pitching always does a great job of keeping us in it when were down, and puts us in a position to win each game, and you can’t ask for much more than those two things.  Consistent pitching and a hot offense is a great recipe to win ball games and we’re a prime example of that. As of today, we clinched our division and will be facing off with the Scottsdale Scorpions on Saturday night in Scottsdale.  Should be a great game. 

Coming soon: “Baseball Gods, Jason. Jason, Baseball Gods”  Part II