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.