The Cole family will always be fans of the birds on the bat, but on some days, that Cardinal red is swapped out for some orange.
“We are die-hard St. Louis Cardinals fans,” said Cassandra Cole. “We love the Springfield Cardinals. In any other situation I root for them to win, but we always root for Zachary.”
Her son, Zach Cole, is the No. 5 prospect in the Houston Astros organization.
“I don’t think I will ever stop being a Cardinals fan,” said the Springfield Catholic alum. “I don’t think my parents would be too happy with that or my friends. But definitely an Astros fan now as well.”
Zach returned home this week, swinging for the fences on Wednesday night against the hometown team.
“It’s always a good feeling to come home and play at a familiar place,” Zach said.
Cassandra Cole is his biggest fan in the stands.
“She’s hard to miss when she is at the game,” Zach said. “If you’re at the game this week you will hear her reminding me to run just in case I forget.”
But her favorite player’s favorite player created some of Zach’s most unforgettable moments at Hammons Field: Matt Carpenter.
“A good memory I have of him was coming into a game in 2009 or 2010…watching him play third base in AA, right before he made it to the big leagues,” Zach said. “He hit a homer that game. I actually got the opportunity to train with him this offseason. To be able to reminisce and talk to him about that, it was a very cool opportunity for me. So I have a lot of good memories with this place.”
It all started in Springfield, but Zach’s love for the game shows, wherever baseball takes him.
“His face is an open book, and he grins and he smiles like he did when he was four years old,” Cassandra said.
Looks may be deceiving with Zach in a Corpus Christi Hooks uniform, but he will always bleed Cards red and blue.
