DAY 5: A CLOSE GAME AND ANOTHER EDUCATIONAL OPPORUNITY


Playing probably their stiffest competition of the spring, the Hanover boys held their own, locked in a scoreless game until Club Orozia scored twice on bases-loaded walks in the bottom of the sixth and held on for a 2-0 win, despite the ‘Rauders putting the tying run on second base in the top of the seventh.  The pitching of Alex Boone (4IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 7K) set the tone early as the offense struggled, collecting just three hits against a group of hard throwing and talented Dominican pitchers.  This team clearly had talent that will someday be playing in a professional capacity.  Jackson McBride had two singles and Allie Muirhead had the other hit for Hanover.  

Things got interesting in the top of the fifth when a McBride single, walk and infield error loaded the bases but unfortunately, the inning ended on a questionable tag play at the plate 😉, when Sean Nam was gunned down to end the inning.  Things were equally exciting in the bottom of the inning when Orozia put runners on the corners with one out against Hanover reliever Jack Lobb.  A wild pitch caromed off the concrete wall back to Lobb, who flipped the ball to Hayden Avard at the plate for the first out and then alertly fired to third to nail an aggressive runner attempting to go from first to third for the final out of the inning, aided by a great catch and tag from Jacobi Marotti. 

In the bottom of the seventh, Nam (walk) and McBride (HBP) reached base to open the inning but following a strikeout, Nam was thrown out trying to score on a wild pitch and second strikeout ended a well-played, energetic and highly-spirited contest.    

Boone ends his pitching work in the DR in impressive fashion with the following line: 7.1IP, 2H 1 R, 0ER, 3BB, 10K





In the afternoon, we traveled to El Guayabal in the San Pedro de Macoris province.  The name, San Pedro de Macoris, name may sound familiar, as it is one of the first havens of professional talent in Major League Baseball.  Close to 100 natives of the area have found their way to the majors.   While I’m not sure if any have ever made it from El Gauyabal, if they have, it is exponentially more impressive given the living conditions that we experienced. While there, we distributed over 200 hygiene kits to families, many of which live in shed-sized houses with very basic, if any, furniture and amenities.  There was significant gratitude from the residents upon being greeted by the players, who were instructed to say, “un regalo para ti”, which means “a gift for you”. 




It didn’t take long for people to realize what was happening, as families congregated in front of their homes and waited for the boys to approach them.  In addition, they handed out some extra t-shirts and some cash donations, all of which made the recipients happy.  It is quite clear that many of the things we take for granted are simply not part of everyday life in the Dominican Republic and that is amplified in the rural villages, away from the few cities that exist on the island.  

Reinforcing a consistent theme during the week, it was another case of the players giving something small but receiving so much more in return.




We visited the family farm of our bus driver following the distribution activity and then headed back to the hotel to ready for our final full day and to begin preparations to return home on Saturday morning. 

Senior captains Sam Loescher and Jackson McBride were interviewed as part of a feature on WMUR Channel 9 which can be found here: 



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