Ball State University Athletics
Day One In The Dominican Republic With Ball State Baseball
November 26, 2015 | Baseball
BOCA CHICA, Dominican Republic - - The Ball State baseball team has commenced a five-day trip to the Dominican Republic in which they will participate in five games and conduct multiple volunteer activities. On Wednesday, the team traveled from Muncie, Ind. to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and brought chicken and various personal items such as toothbrushes and towels, to residents of a sugar cane farming village.
Coach Maloney's Wednesday Recap:
Today was a special day for all of us. We loaded the bus at 2:15 a.m. and our flight to Atlanta left at 6:00 a.m. We arrived in Atlanta around 7:30 a.m. Guys caught the am train to our terminal. Most of the team found a restaurant to have breakfast at before catching our flight to Santo Domingo that left at 9:53 a.m. We arrived in Santo Domingo around 2:00 p.m. where we waited about 40 minutes to get our tourist cards. After we received our cards we had to wait in line to pass through immigration which took a solid hour.
After picking up our luggage we met our guide Sam LeBeau and his crew who had sandwiches and water waiting on our bus. We then headed to pick up 200 boxes of fried chicken that we went into a sugar cane village to pass out to the community. We were met by the mayor and much of the community came out to see us. It was amazing to see people living such a simple life, smiling and laughing while having so little material things but I would say in some ways they have so much – they are a true community; they are having fun being with each other, and sharing life's simple pleasures together.
Our players were magnificent with the kids – we have several pictures of happy children in the arms of our players. I don't see how you couldn't be touched by what we experienced today. Thankful for what we have but also brought back to one special word – love –because what we shared today was a love and respect of two separate groups of people from different cultures coming together as one. What a blessing to be a part of. Some already have asked if we can visit the village again. In a very small way a little bit of humanity came together in a kindred spirit and shared a couple of hours of life together; Two completely different cultures enjoying community together with one common bond – love.
Player Blog Post: Ryan Spaulding, Senior/2B/Sweetser, Ind. (Oak Hill)
Hey Ball State baseball fans, this is senior second baseman Ryan Spaulding. We have arrived in the Dominican Republic! It has been a very long day to say the least. We started our day at 2:30 a.m. departing for the Indianapolis Airport. By the time we landed in Santo Domingo, we had been traveling for around 12 hours. The guys are very tired!
However, we did catch a glimpse into the lives of a portion of the Dominican sugar cane field workers and their families. We brought them a chicken dinner, which is a delicacy around here, as well as toiletries such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, and wash cloths. It was definitely an eye opener for the guys who hadn't seen third-world poverty. It made me realize – and I'm sure I speak for the rest of the team – that the things we take for granted at home are things these people don't even think about having, such as running water, paved roads, and plumbing just to name a few. Nevertheless, we enjoyed our time with them; seeing their smiling faces in the midst of their troubles was truly an inspiration to witness and I will never forget that.
The upcoming week has some great opportunities and challenges. We will play some high-level competition ranging from players our age to men who are more mature than us. I'm excited to see where we stand as a team and to see how far we have come since the fall season started. These next couple of days should be exciting so stay tuned!
Looking Ahead…
On Thursday, the team is scheduled for a split squad matchup against an affiliate team of the New York Mets at 10:30 a.m., prior to spending the afternoon at a local children's orphanage.
This week's in-depth Ball State baseball content will include daily postgame recaps, blog posts from Coach Maloney and various players, photo galleries courtesy of Anthony Marquez, and video highlights from Ball State SportsLink's Torey Fox.
Check back daily to get the inside scoop on the team's adventures by following activity on BallStateSports.com as well as by following @CoachMaloney and @BallStateBB on Twitter.
