Ball State University Athletics
Baseball Spends Thanksgiving In Competition & At Orphanage
November 27, 2015 | Baseball
BOCA CHICA, Dominican Republic - - On its second day in the Dominican Republic, the Ball State baseball team took on the New York Mets Academy in split squad competition. Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the residents of the NY Mets Academy hosted a festive lunch for the team which included turkey, potatoes, rice and various vegetables.
Ball State team A downed the NY Mets 2-0 thanks to the skill of pitcher Brendan Burns, who closed out nearly the last five innings of the game with 12 strikeouts against 14 batters faced. The Ball State team B tied its matchup 2-2, in which Roman Baisa notched four stolen bases for the Cardinals.
The team then rounded out the day with recreational time at the Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos Orphanage in which they played soccer, baseball and volleyball with its residents.
Coach Maloney's Wednesday Recap:
The boy's had a buffet breakfast at 7:00 that had a variety of food that we aren't accustomed to liked baked bananas, bacon that was baked, sausages that I hadn't heard of – boy are we spoiled. We then left on our bus at 8:00 a.m. taking about a 20 minute drive to the NY Mets' complex.
The Met's owner Fred Wilpon is a former Michigan baseball player. Fred and his son Jeff have been good friends to our family. I reached out to Jeff prior to our trip and I told him we wanted to play the Mets. He said he would talk with his staff to work out the details. Whenever the Wilpon's get involved in anything, it is first-class, and they treated us like royalty.
Prior to our game Raphael Landestoy a former eight year big-leaguer spoke with our team and educated them on the way of life of the Dominican kids. He talked about the lack of education, about the academy and how they try to help the kids, not just on the playing field but in the classroom as well. Raphael was great! I made a new friend.
Then the great Ozzie Virgil Sr. spoke. He was the first Dominican-born player to reach the big-leagues. He told the boys baseball stories, including one of a 16 inning game that Juan Marichal pitched the entire game against another baseball great, who also went 16 innings; but Marichal got the win as Willie Mays hit a home run. Ozzie talked about competition, hard work, and having an understanding of the game. Great stuff!
We then played a split squad double-header – so we had an A Team and a B Team which was great so we could play a lot of our boys. Our A Team won 2-0 and our B Team tied the Met's 2-2. We pitched extremely well with Brendan Burns striking out 12 in 4 2/3 innings, wow! The entire team played well, and it was great to play in 86 degree weather.
After the games the Mets served us a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. They have a cafeteria that they feed these kids in and they allowed us to eat first to be on our way. I can't say enough of how well the Mets treated us.
Lastly, we visited an orphanage of about 200 kids. Our boys played with them. We had a soccer game going, a baseball game going, we had kids coloring, kid's using a stick to hit with, etc. You couldn't help but feel for these kids who have been abandoned or whose parents didn't have the resources to care for them so the orphanage had to take them in. What a special group of young people. It was a very full day but one that each of our boys will remember for a long time.
Player Blog Post: Caleb Stayton, junior/1B/Goshen, Ind. (Elkhart Christian Academy)
Hello everybody back home! This is junior first baseman Caleb Stayton. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I am incredibly thankful for the opportunity that we have to take this trip to the Dominican Republic. Today was our first opportunity to play against the Dominican competition. After getting a much-needed night's rest, we headed out bright and early to the ball field. We were taking on the New York Mets Academy. The complex had beautiful fields and everything was in great shape. It was an absolute gorgeous day for baseball! The temperature was in the high 80s, which is a little warmer than back home. It was one of those days where you just want to be at the field all day because everything is perfect for the great game of baseball. We did something different than usual for today's game. We played a split-squad double-header. After we took batting practice and infield all together, half the guys left at went to play a game on a different field. I didn't really know what to expect since we were playing guys who have already signed with a professional team. What I realized is baseball is the same everywhere you go, no matter what language you speak, and no matter who you are playing. Once we realized this, we calmed down and played good Cardinal baseball just like we do back home at Ball Diamond. We performed great as a team and as individuals! It was a blast and I am really looking forward to our games tomorrow.
After our games today, we were able to go to an orphanage nearby. This was a great way to interact with people from this culture and to realize how fortunate we are. We didn't have much to give them except some candy, but we did have what these kids needed the most – love and attention. We got off the bus and immediately were swarmed by kids and began playing all kinds of games. Some of the guys started a baseball game, while others played volleyball, football, soccer, and many other games. I think I can speak for all of us that this was very rewarding not only to the children, but more to us. It pushed some of us out of our comfort zone, but we would all do it again if we had the chance. Although it was a little sad to not be with family over this holiday, I think we were able to understand true thankfulness over this Thanksgiving, which is what it is all about. This will be a Thanksgiving I will remember for the rest of my life!
Looking Ahead…
On Friday, the team is scheduled for double-header against the Escodigo Reserve Squad at 10 a.m., prior to taking on the Dominican Military National Team at 2 p.m.
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.
