[wpbvideo id=”741000″]
“I caught the throw, and I’m looking, and there’s nobody. He had gone right between my legs. I turned around and he just had the biggest grin, and he was just looking me dead in the eye grinning,“ said Queen City Crush baseball player Kolten Poorman.
Monday’s look a little different at US Ballpark this year.
“It was the highlight of my day. That was awesome,“ Poorman said.
Adding coach pitch and T-ball to the summer schedule.
“It’s a lot of work but it’s a lot of fun, and I love seeing them every single week. We do things obviously very differently, said US Ballpark Operations Director Mackie Karlson. “The setup of the field is different, so if there’s a parent that has a kid on the T-ball team and the coach pitch team they’re not rushing from one side of Springfield to the other. They’re seeing their kid on one field the entire time.“
Kids playing on the same field as the college players, and those college players are out there with them.
“If they play on Monday nights they’re going to coach the kids. They’re getting to meet these kids every week, and the kids are building a connection with them so after their minis they can watch these college players. Then they can come back the next week and be like oh I saw you play,“ Karlson said.
“A lot of them look up to us, but we look down on them because the innocence of youth,“ said Poorman.
Making memories for the young kids, while bringing back old ones for the college players.
“I missed a play and I was so ashamed that I ran and put my head between my dad‘s knees. I was so upset, so I’ve come along way. But absolutely I remember being out here,“ Poorman said.
Monday night minis start at 6 PM, but around 7 o’clock the fences come down, the coaches take the field as players, and the young kids turn into fans.
“They all have teams that match the show me league teams. So, their jersey may match the 20-year-old that’s coaching them, so all night they get to cheer for their team. And that’s a really unique aspect that we have,“ Karlson said.
So far the inaugural summer of Monday Night Minis is a hit.
“They are awesome all of those little guys give it their hardest. They give it their best every time when they go out there, so it’s awesome to see them do what they do,“ Poorman said.
