Recap

This summer was a great experience and I am glad that I got the opportunity to play for the Paints. I had a blast playing baseball but I also had fun off of the field as well. The guys on the team were very cool and I am glad that I had the opportunity to play with them and I know I can call all of them my friends. Its amazing how close we got as a team in that short amount of time. I feel like I know those guys as well as I know the guys on the Depauw team.
When I wasnt with the guys on the team I was with my host family and I enjoyed the time that I spent with them. I lucked out with having the Snyder's as my host family. Don, Donna, and Kellcie did a lot for Cody and I and they made it a fun summer. They came to every home game and always supported us in a positive manner. I couldn't have asked for a better host family and I look forward to going back to Chillicothe and visiting them.
All in all it was a great summer and I had fun everyday. I hope I have the opportunity to play there again next summer and do it all again.

West Virginia & Lorain County August 2-5

We made our last trip to West Virginia and Lorain County this past week. We ended up losing both games in West Virginia but bounced back well and won both games in Lorain. At this point we are two games back in the second half behind West Virginia and Richmond. So depending how Richmond does these next two games we still have a shot at getting into the play offs.

July 27-29

On Friday the 27th we had a home game against Slippery Rock. The game the night before got canceled because the power went out and they couldn't fix it for a couple hours. We had a nasty storm come through and a power station down the street caught on fire. So we played both games on Friday. Instead of playing two nine innings games we just played two seven inning games. In the first game we had a chance to win it in the bottom of the seventh but we didn't get the job done. The pitching was a lot better in the second game and we won 1-0 in the bottom of the 8th inning. Brad Goldberg from Ohio State pitched for us and went 7 scoreless innings with 8 strikeouts. After the game we had our first Party with the Paints. They do it after Friday home games but all the other ones this year were rained out. Everyone went on the party deck and they served us food and they had a band playing live music. There was a pretty good crowd that stuck around for the party.
On Saturday and Sunday we traveled to Richmond for our last series at their place. Since our bus' AC wast working we had a chartered bus. It felt like switching from flying coach to first class. Everyone was in a better mood when we got off the bus and we felt ready to play. It was true because we came our firing on all cylinders. The final score was 12-3. The next day our pitching wasn't as good and we lost 16-15. With seven games left in the season we are .5 games back from Richmond who is currently in first place.

July 23

Today we had a day off after 10 straight games. It was nice to take a break and relax. I didn't wake up until 12 and I made some breakfast and then went to workout. After working out I went to Vinnie Booker's house to hang out with some of the other guys on the team. We actually went to a pond that Vinnie's host parents own to swim and hang out. It was only like 5 minutes down the street from his house. The pond was pretty nice and they had a slide and a rope swing. It was a blue-ish green which was nice compared to the normal brown ponds that are in Indiana. We stayed at the pond for about 3 hours and then we went back home for dinner. I arrived home just in time for dinner; we had meat loaf and mashed potatoes and green beans. It was a good meal ad it the spot after a long day in the sun. After dinner I just hung out at the house and watched a couple movies on Netflix.

Slippery Rock July 21 & 22

The bus for Slippery Rock left at 10:30 on Saturday. Beforehand we had a team breakfast at the ballpark that was put together by the booster club. They had a good assortment of fruit, homemade donuts, bacon, eggs, and breakfast casseroles. The food was really good and it was nice to get on the bus with a full stomach. The bus ride to Slippery Rock wasn't too bad. This time the A/C was actually working so it was rather comfortable on the bus.
The first game of the series went well. We went back and forth with the lead throughout the game. In the 8th inning they tied it up and we ended up going into extra innings. The game lasted til the 11th inning until we scored two runs in the top of the inning and then loaded the bases and Giancarlo hit a grand slam. We held them in the bottom of the inning and ended up winning the game. That night I went to Cody's house which was about an hour away. We went and hung out with one of his best friends and spent the night there. In the morning Cody's mom made us a hearty breakfast with homemade French toast, waffles, fruit, and bacon. After breakfast Cody took me on a tour of Pittsburgh. We went to the top of the mountain that looks over the whole city and then we drove around by PNC Park where the Pirates play. The downtown area was really nice and there was some cool architecture. After we drove back to Cody's house we watched tv for an hour then left for the ballpark.
Tonight's game didn't go as well as last nights. We had the lead most of the game but we lost it in the bottom of the 8th and couldn't score in the top of the 9th. This ended our 7 game winning streak. We are currently 10-7 and two games back from Richmond. If we keep it up we will have a good shot at winning the second half.

Butler July 17 & 18

Tuesday we made our last trip to Butler, Pennsylvania. The bus ride was the longest one this season. There was a little construction along the way and we took a different route than last time. The total time including lunch was close to 6 hours and to top it all off the bus was about 80 degrees so it wasn't very comfortable.
The game went pretty slow as well. The first pitch of the game our lead off batter fouled off a pitch and it hit him directly in the eye. He had to go to the hospital and get stitches and went to see an eye specialist but everything is fine; nothing too serious. Our team hit the ball well this game and we got our first win at Butler. Every other game we played there we couldn't hit the ball. After the game I changed and went down to the restaurant in the hotel and got carry-out for dinner. The guys who were 21 went to the bar in the hotel and sang karaoke. That would've been a funny sight to see.
The following day I woke up at 9 and went downstairs for the complimentary breakfast. After I ate I went back to sleep for a couple hours until we had to leave our room. Once we got kicked out of the room by housekeeping we just went to the lobby and hung our for 4 hours until we left for the ballpark. In that time I read 30 pages of my book and beat a good portion of a new iPad game I got. When we got to the ballpark I sat around for an hour an a half until I started to stretch and throw. Tonight I had my third start pitching. The first inning was a little rough and I gave up one run with two hits but the rest of the game went smoothly. I only gave up five hits total and only let up two runs. The relief pitchers did their job and held them scoreless the rest of the game and I got my first win in the prospect league. It was a good night. Right now we are on our way back to Chilli where we play Richmond in a two game series. If we win those games then we should still have a good chance of winning the second half.

Lorain County July 13 & 14

We made our first trip to Lorain County after the all-star break. From the stories that I heard from the guys that were on the team last year I wasn't expecting too much from  Lorain. They said that the hotel was pretty crummy and the field wasn't too great. They weren't lying. The hotel wasn't too bad but it definitely wasn't the JW Marriott. The field's playing surface was pretty rough. The infield had a comparable hardness to concrete. The ball would take some nasty hops. The stands at the field weren't too bad. They had one section in the middle with stadium seats.
Before the game I went for a run around the stadium and explored what Lorain County had to offer. From what I saw on the two and a half mile run I wasn't very impressed. It seemed like more of a industrial area with a lot of factories.
When the game started there weren't very many fans in the stands. Lorain has a reputation of getting pretty small crowds and that was definitely the case. Both games there were probably only 700 fans total which is pretty measly compared to our attendance record. Despite the weak crowds Lorain came out of the series with two victories. The first game our pitching couldn't handle their hitting and in the second game our hitting couldn't handle their pitching. It was a bad series for a team but we should be able to turn it around.

All-Star Break

Our All-Star break for the Prospect League was July 10-12. I drove home the morning of the 10th and made it back to Indy by 12:30. This was my first time being home since I left for Chillicothe. It was nice being home and good to get a break from baseball. That night we got carry out sushi from Sakura then afterwards we watched the MLB all-star game. On wednesday the 11th my sister was coming home from New York where she was spending her summer. Before I picked her up I went to my grandmother's house to spend some time with her. Gigi was doing well and it was good to hang out and talk to her. After I picked my sister up from the airport we took her luggage home then we went to LaPiedad with my other grandparents. It was good to get the whole family together and have a nice meal with them. After dinner we got a movie from Redbox and went home and all hung out and watched it in the living room. On thursday the 12th I was running around town doing errands. I went to Lowe's and got more pavers for the patio that I'm making in the back yard for my mother. Slowly but surely its coming together. Hopefully we can get it done by the fall. That night I went to the O.A.R. concert at  the White River Lawn. Friday morning I woke up at 6:30 and my mom made me delicious breakfast and then I headed back on the road to Chillicothe. Once I got back to Chilli we got directly on the bus and left for Lorain County which is up towards Cleveland.

July 7 & 8

Yesterday after our game against West Virginia Cody and I went to Roosters with Don and Donna to grab a bite to eat. Next we went home and packed our bags for our trip to West Virginia the following day because we weren't going to come back. That night we went to Clearwater Lake which is about 50 minutes north and just south of Columbus to go Catfishing. We went with a Keenan White and Nick Lombardi. Since its a private lake we didn't have to have a fishing liscense but you have to pay $12 to be able to fish there. Keenan brought some blue gill to use as bait and we also bought some other small bait fish. Within 15 minutes of being there Cody caught a monster catfish. It was probably 3.5 long and weighed close to 20 pounds. A couple minutes later he caught another catfish but it wasn't as big as the first one. I didn't catch a fish til about 6 in the morning. We ended up being there for only 5 hours but we didn't start fishing til 2. After staying up all night fishing everyone was tired and we decided to leave at 7 and went to the ball park to try and sleep for an hour before we had to get on the bus and leave for West Virginia.
The bus left at 9:30 and once I got into my seat I fell asleep. I took a good two hour nap but woke up because the bus was like 90 degrees. Apparently the a/c broke and we just had to tough it out. Everyone on the bus was sweating bullets and half the guys took their shirts off because they were sweating so much. Needless to say, it was miserable. Once we got to the hotel everyone was relieved to be in the air conditioning.
We didn't leave the hotel til 3 so everyone just hung out in their rooms The game tonight was pretty sloppy. There were too many errors and too many walks and we ended up losing the game 5-9. After the game everyone changed and we went to eat at the Hooters down the street.

July 4th

Yesterday the bus left at 1:30 for Richmond where we played the River Rats. The bus ride wasn't too bad; it was only two and a half hours. After we took batting practice I went on a two mile run with Jack Quigley. During the game JT Miller and I worked the radar gun and charted all the pitchers speeds. The game went well for us because the bats were very hot. Richmond's starting pitcher gave up 10 earned runs in 3 and 1/3 innings. The final score of the game was 16 to 1. Once the game was over they fed us the standard burgers and dogs but they also had some juicy pulled pork. Since the team was driving back to Chillicothe I stayed with Dylan Sheldon who plays for Richmond. His host family was kind enough to let me stay with them.
When we got to his house we both showered and changed and left to go watch the firework show in downtown Richmond. We got there pretty late but it was still a good show. After the fireworks Dylan and I met up with my friend Jalen Hogg who played baseball with me for three years at north central. He lives in Richmond now with his grandparents. After we hung out with Jalen for awhile we went back to Dylan's house and went swimming.
This morning we slept in and didn't get out of bed until noon. So far today we've just been hanging out at the house and have been playing some billiards and ping pong.

July 2nd

This past weekend was the end of the first half of the season and was one of the last weekends that we'll be at home. We will be on the road a lot in July and will be gone most of the weekends. Since it will be almost a month til we have another home series my parents came over to Chillicothe and stayed on saturday night. When they got here saturday afternoon we went to Hana the Japanese Steakhouse. After the game we went out to eat again at Roosters with Cody, the Snyders, and JT Miller's family. This weekend Cody and I helped run the baseball camp for the Paints. There were five players who ran the camp with close to 80 kids ranging from the age of 6 to 16. It was pretty fun because they gave us total control of the camp and we did whatever we wanted. The camp was three hours a day for three days. On the last day we played wiffle ball, had a water balloon fight, and had a pizza party at the end. It was pretty fun working with the kids despite the fact that the temperature was in the 90s everyday.
The games on Saturday and Sunday were against the Slippery Rock Sliders. Saturday we beat the crap out of them 30 to 3 and on Sunday we thought we were gonna do the same thing but we ended up losing 5 to 3. On Sunday we had a nasty storm roll through midway through the first inning which ended up delaying the game for almost two hours. At one point there was hail the size of quarters.
After the game we all went to Zach Wolfe's house which was only 20 minutes away from the stadium. He has a pool, ping pong table, pool table, air hockey, and ski ball. Needless to say it was very fun. Today we woke up at 11 and drove back home from Zach's house and then lounged around the house and watched some old episodes of the Chappell Show. After that Cody and I went to work out and then came home to eat a nice home cooked meal that Donna prepared. After dinner we played corn hole against Don and Kellcie and after that we went to Mike Dodakian's house where we car pooled to go see Ted the new movie.

Slippery Rock June 26th & 27th

Yesterday the bus left at 10:30 for Slippery Rock, PA. The drive didn't seem too bad but I think it ended up taking around 4.5 hours. We got to the hotel an hour and a half before we had to leave for the park so I just laid in bed and watched That 70s Show. When we got to the ballpark the team took batting practice as after that JT and I went for a run around the campus which is really hilly. There's a good route that is exactly a mile from the field to the top of a big hill with a water tower on top.
In the game our bats were pretty cold and we couldn't hit very well. Our pushing gave up a lot of runs also do it was looking pretty ugly at the beginning of the game. Towards the end of the game however, we made a late run and started to score a lot of runs. We ended up losing the game by one run 11-10. After the game I went home with Cody to his mom's boyfriend's house. It was only like 15 minutes away and it was in the country. It was a good sized log cabin with an attached garage and was very nice. After Cody and I showered Tom ( his mom's boyfriend) made steaks on the grill while his mom prepared a salad and potatoes. It was a very tasty meal and it was a lot better than the pizza I would've had if I was at the hotel with the team. After dinner Tom made a fire in the backyard and we sat and talked for a bit until we went to bed. This morning for breakfast Cody's mom made her own special recipe of French toast with bacon and orange juice. It was definitely one of the best breakfasts that I've had in awhile. After breakfast Cody and I rode around on Tom's four wheeler and after that we just watched tv before we had to leave for the game.
Tom dropped us off at the field before the bus even got there and when Slippery Rock I talked to Michael Chiaro who pitched for them the night before. After our batting practice JT, Chris Thomas, and I went for a run on the same route as yesterday.
Today's game went a lot better and we were hitting the ball really well. We kept tacking on runs every inning and the final score was 10-4. After the game they fed us hot dogs and hamburgers and we showered and now we're on our way back to Chillicothe where I am going to start the next game.

June 25th

Last night we had another team bonfire. It was pretty fun just hanging out with the guys on the team. When we woke up this morning we went to the gym and worked out for a bit. Then after the gym we went to Matt Fishers host family's house which was like 40 minutes north. Their house was really nice and they have about 30 acres. We went swimming in their pool for a bit then we went for a kayak ride on the creek that goes through their back yard. The ride was like 7 miles down the creek. Since we haven't gotten any rain lately the water level was really low so we had to stop a lot because we would get caught in the rocks. It was a lot of fun and it was cool to see the land around the creek. There was some good scenery. The trip ended up taking longer than we thought cuz it was like 6 hours. When we got to our stopping point Matt's host dad brought his old 1950s Chevy truck and picked us up. The picture below is from Matt's host family's house. They have a goat, horse, and mini horse.

June 22nd

I woke up this morning at 8:30 to eat the hotels continental breakfast and it turned out to be pretty disappointing. They had bagels, muffins, and cereal but they didn't have any hot food. After I ate I went back up to the room to sleep for an hour and a half before we had to check out. Once everyone checked out at 11 we hung out in the of the rooms at the hotel til 12 then we took the bus to the outlet mall down the street to kill some time. Before I went to the mall I went with some of the guys to Primanti Bros to get some lunch. I got one of their signature sandwiches "the Pitts-Burger". It had two beef patties, cheese, French fries, and slaw all smushed in between two pieces of bread. It was pretty good but I didn't really like the slaw on the burger. After we ate I walked to the Polo and Reebok outlet stores. Since the mall was so big it was like a half mile walk. I didn't end up buying anything so I walked to where the bus picked us up and went back to the hotel. When we got back I just hung out and continued reading where I left off on the Steve Jobs Biography. So far I like it but I'm only a hundred pages in. When it was time to go tithe field everyone changed at the hotel and we drove to the park. After batting practice I went on a run around the town with another pitcher John Kuchno. It was a long run but felt good once we finished.
The game didn't go too well tonight and we struggled to hit the ball again. Our pitching didn't do well either because we let up 11 runs but I didn't throw tonight. I think the final score was 11-3. After the game they gave us all box dinner with a sandwich, pasta salad, grapes, and cookies. It was a very good post game meal and it hit the spot. Right now we're on our way back to Chilli where we will play Richmond in a two game series.

June 21st

The past couple of days have been fairly routine. We swept west Virginia which tied us for first place in our division. Our team was hitting the ball really well and our pitching did well enough to limit their runs. The past couple nights Cody and I have gotten in the hot tub after the games which is very relaxing and feels good after playing.
This morning we left at 10:30 for Butler, PA. The ride seemed like it took forever because there was some construction and a little backed up traffic. I think the ride was actually around 5 1/2 hours. Before the game JT Miller and I went for a run around the neighborhood by the stadium and it wasn't very pretty. A lot of the houses are run down and in bad shape and the surrounding area doesn't seem like the nicest place to live. The actual stadium isnt too bad though. It looks like they've re done it in the past couple of years. Tonight out bats weren't very hot and we were limited to 1 run. The game went by really fast and finished under 2 hours. The final score was 5-1. Right now we're on our way to the hotel in Grove City, PA where we will shower and go get something to eat

West Virginia

The drive to Beckley West Virginia was a lot shorter than I originally expected. It only took us three and a half hours to get there. When we arrived we checked in to the Country Inn & Suites. Once we got settled in I walked to subway with some other guys on the team. Then when we got back everyone changed and we went to the ballpark. The Linda Eppling Stadium was very nice. It's only a few years old and they did a very nice job with it. When we got to the locker room they had a fridge full of Powerade for us. The locker room was nice and they had very good facilities for us. The field was all turf and they had a good sized seating area. The seats behind home plate were stadium seats and the rest were bench seats.
The game that night was rather uneventful. We weren't hitting too well. Late in the game West Virginia tied it up and we ended up going into extra innings. The game lasted a long time and we went 15 innings before Giancarlo hit a homerun and we won the game. After the game I just went to the hotel and passed out. The following day we just hung out in the hotel and waited til we left for the park. There was a Cracker Barrel next to the hotel so some of the pitching staff went there for brunch. Then the rest of the day we just hung out in the hotel until we left for the park. The game that might wasn't as long as the night before. Our bats weren't very hot and we ended up losing 6 to 3.

June 9th

I got back to the house at 3 last night and slept in til noon. We have an away series with the Richmond Riverrats. The bus left at 1:30 and it took a little over 2 hours to get to Richmond. Since we got to the park early we just hung out in the clubhouse for an hour. Then we had bp on the field and I talked to Dylan Sheldon and Alex Srika who are pitchers for DePauw but they are playing for Richmond this summer. When it was getting close to game time the fans started to file in and there ended up being a good crowd. It probably helped that there were fireworks after the game. We didn't play our best this game. There are a lot of fielding errors and we didn't hit as well as we usually do. I think the final score was 13 to 3. Since Richmond is so close we didnt stay over night and we drove back to Chillicothe.
More players arrived today from Ohio University and Ohio State and one of them is staying at the same house with me this summer. His name is Cody Gaertner. He's from Pittsburgh and he catches at Ohio University. When we got back Kellcie had a bonfire with one of her friends so we hung out with them for awhile. It was a pretty fun night just hanging out

Slippery Rock, PA June 7 & 8

We took our second road trip on Thursday and Friday. Thursday morning I woke up at 6:45 and made myself an omelet with a toasted English muffin on the side. Since we were going on the road for two days I wanted to get a good workout in before I left so I went to the gym and did a good upper and lower body workout. Then I drove to the stadium and went for a mile run around the VA complex. After that I packed my bags and loaded my stuff on the bus. The ride to Slipper Rock wasn't too bad. We stopped just before the PA border and got lunch. Once we got to our hotel we checked in and changed into our uniforms then went to the park. We played fine at the beginning of the game but we couldn't hit very well late in the game. When I came into the game it was the 8th inning when we were down by 1 with the bases loaded. I did ok, not too great. I ended up giving up two runs before the inning was over. They weren't hitting the ball hard but it just kept falling in the gaps. We didn't score any runs in the top of the 9th so we ended up losing the game. Afterwards we went back to the hotel, showered, then went out to eat. The restaurant was about a mile down the road so it was like an 8 minute walk. The place we went to was called Elephant & Castle. I got chicken fingers with fries and it hit the spot.
The next day we had to be out of our rooms by 11. We weren't gonna leave the hotel til 4 so we made a trip to the outlet mall down the road. It was a huge outlet mall. They had every store you could imagine; Polo, Nike, J Crew etc. I made a couple purchases today; I got a Polo T Shirt and a J Crew button down. When we got back to the hotel we watched part of the NCAA Super Regional games in the lobby. We left around four and when we got to the park JT Miller and I went for a run. The stadium is on the Slippery Rock University campus so JT and I ran around their campus which was actually pretty hilly which made the run tough. The game tonight went much better than last night. We hit the ball well and the pitching staff was on top of their game. The final score was 10 to 3. We're currently on the bus back to Chillicothe where we will sleep tonight then leave tomorrow at 1 for Richmond.

First Day Off

Last night one of the guys had people over for a bonfire. It was pretty fun hanging out with guys on the team, there were probably 12 people from the team that showed up. I slept there because the house was like 30 minutes away from my house. When I woke up I went to Tim Hortons and got a sausage, egg, and cheese bagel sandwich which turned out to be very good. When I got back to the house I changed into my workout clothes and went to the gym to pump some iron. After working out I met one of the other relief pitchers at the VA Memorial golf course, which is right next to the ballpark, and we played 9 holes. The course was a little run-down but it was a fun time. When I got back from golfing I made myself a late lunch and hung out on the porch for a couple hours and talked to Don. When it got close to dinner time Don fired up the grill and made pork chops and BBQ chicken while Kellcie was inside making baked beans, pasta, and fried potatoes. It turned out to be a tasty meal. After dinner we all went for a drive and they showed me the Ross Lake, which is a good place to fish, and it is only 10 minutes down the road. We then drove around for another 30 minutes on the back roads and they showed me some different parts of the country side. It was at dusk so there was a nice colorful sunset and there were deer all over the place.

Wedding Night

Today was pretty much the same as the other days. My parents came today and we went to the store and got some lunch. When I got to the ball park the pre game was the same as usual with batting practice and infield. But before we started playing there was a group of people that came onto the field from the party deck. They started playing wedding music and then a priest came onto the field and they had a wedding ceremony right by home plate. When I came to the park today I never would have thought that there would be a wedding on the field. I guess if the couple were big baseball fans then that would be the perfect place to get married.

June 1st

Today I slept in pretty late and didn't get out of bed until noon. I made myself a hefty four egg, bacon and cheese omelet which turned out to be very tasty. After my late breakfast sat around for awhile and hung out on the porch. Then I got hungry again so I made myself some lunch. I put together a nice meal that consisted of a ham sandwich, potato salad, macaroni salad, and pretzel chips. After my second meal of the day I went to the gym and did a nice leg workout then I went straight to the ballpark from there. The pre game was all the same as the previous nights except for the fact that the VA medical helicopter delivered the game ball tonight. They were supposed to do it last night but they had an emergency that they had to respond to. Just before 7 tonight the helicopter came from behind the tree line and the pilot skillfully landed it in the outfield. A couple guys got out of the chopper and delivered the game ball to our pitcher and then they took off. It was a pretty cool sight to see. The game tonight wasn't too exciting. It was cold with a little bit of rain but I just hung out in the bullpen the whole time. We ended up losing 6 to 2 to the River Rats.

Home Opener

Today I woke up around 10 and had a couple bowls of cereal for breakfast. There wasn't much going on at the house since I was the only one home so I just sat out on the front porch and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Later I went to Body Zone for the first time to workout and then stopped at the Water Street Barber Shop. I got a nice haircut there and talked to them for awhile and since I'm a Paints player I got a $5 discount. I then made my way back to the house and made myself a couple turkey sandwiches and hung out on the front porch until it was time for me to leave for the ballpark. The game was set to start at 7 so I got to the park at 4 for batting practice and the pre-game warm ups. There was a good turnout for the home opener and we put on a good show for them. I would guess that there was close to 1500 to 2000 people in attendance. I closed the game tonight and did pretty well. I had Nolan Early with two strike and two outs but I threw too far inside and hit him but then I got the next guy out. After the game there were little kids outside the dugout waiting for autographs from all the players. I made my way to the locker room after singing some bats and balls and changed and came back out for the fireworks. Since it was opening night the local radio station sponsored a fireworks show for after the game which was pretty neat. After the show I went to the party porch where they had free hot dogs and hamburgers for all the players. When I got back to the house I sat on the front porch for awhile and talked with the Snyders. It was a fun day and I can't wait to do it all again tomorrow.

Game #2

Today we had our second game in Butler, PA. The game didn't start til 6:30 so we had all day to lounge around and hang out. Since we didn't have to leave the hotel til 4 there was no need to set an alarm to wake up. I slept in til 11 then walked down the street to subway to grab some lunch. The hotel we stayed at didnt have anything entertaining around it so we just hung out in the hotel room all day watching the Pawn Stars marathon. We ended up losing the game to the Bluesox but after the game they gave us a nice box meal. After we ate we loaded the bus and headed back to Chillicothe for our home opener.

Opening Day

The bus left at 10:30 after a couple bowls of cereal and the scenic drive to the ballpark through rural southern Ohio. The bus ride was a little over four hours til we reached our destination at the Days Inn in Butler, PA. When we got to the park we stretched and threw then the position players took bp in the cages. Before the game started there was a storm cell moving through the area which delayed the game for 45 minutes. Once the game got under way we got off to a good start and held the lead til the 8 when our first reliever gave up a 3 run bomb. I came in the game in the 8th inning with two outs and struck the guy out but we failed to score in the top of the 9th and lost. It was a fun day and we'll do the same thing tomorrow but hopefully come out on top.

Day #1

Today I drove over to Chillicothe in 3 hours and 20 minutes. When I arrived I met some of the players and coaching staff and mingled for awhile. Later I got my locker and uniform #23. We then went on the field for a short practice just to go over some things. We threw bullpens and went through some defensive work. After practice they gave us Papa Johns and went over some general information about the summer and the host families. My family this summer is Don, Donna, and Kellcie Snyder. They live about 15 minutes away from the ballpark in a comfortable house in the country. I have my own room with a bed, dresser, tv, and a chair. Nothing fancy but it will be perfect for the summer. The Snyders are a very friendly family and have been very accommodating so far. Tomorrow we leave the stadium at 10:30 for our first game in Butler, PA.