2022 Alumni Baseball Game

2022 Alumni Baseball Game
2022 Alumni Baseball Game

On Saturday, June 11th, Breck welcomed home 24 alumni for the first annual Alumni Baseball game. The game featured a team of young alumni, the Young Foals (2014-2021), who competed against our more experienced alumni, the gOLD Mustangs (classes 1997-2011). Early on the game looked like it might get out of hand with the Young Foals jumping out to a quick 3-0 lead at the top of the 1st, but the gOLD Mustangs showed they just needed a little bit of time to wipe the cobwebs off of their bats, and tied it up 3-3 in the 3rd inning. The highly competitive game went back and forth for the next several innings until the old guys took a commanding lead in the 5th inning and never looked back. The hard-fought game ended in six innings with a final score of 8-6 in favor of the wily veterans.

There were highlights from both squads in this very exciting game. Drew Joiner ‘09 recorded the first homerun of the game, which caused Carter Oftedahl ‘21 to remark, “the bat he hit that with isn’t even legal anymore!” Meanwhile, Alex McKenna ‘20 and Ethan Guell ‘19, toed the rubber for the Foals, each pitching three innings. David Christopherson (father of Dr. Andrew Christopherson '99) praised Guell ‘19 for his effective use of the eephus pitch, but Jack McKenna ‘21 was confident that any pitch would have struck out his former coach Cam Born ‘10 (as Guell ‘19 had).  Current Breck staff member Joe Ginsburg ‘11 was absolutely dealing, recording seven strikeouts over three innings for the Mustangs. Liam O’Hagan ‘04 managed to load the base with no outs in his second inning on the mound, but reached into his bag and found three quick outs, stranding three. He told Alumni Director Kyle Parsons, “it felt like 2003 again.” Finally, the Alumni Office was happy to announce Eli Kramer ‘97, the most senior athlete on the field, as the 2022 Alumni Baseball Game MVP. While there were many worthwhile competitors, Kramer ‘97 managed to make plays in the field, crush a triple, and even recorded the last three outs of the game to preserve the save. 

Multiple players traveled from out of state to participate in the game. This year’s “Homecoming” award recipient, which is given to the alum who travels the greatest distance, was Jim Dahl ‘99, who came all the way from Anchorage, Alaska! A big thank you to the event planners, Eli Kramer ‘97, Liam O’Hagan ‘04, Matt Cosgriff ‘07, Joe Ginsburg ‘11, and Alex Wiese ‘21. Another thank you to Head Coach Brian Wright, and Coach Bobby Hernández, for coming out to mix it up with the guys, and to longtime Coach Byron Rice for serving as the game’s photographer. Finally, a huge thank you to all of the players (and their families in the stands!) who participated and helped to make the first year a huge success. We are all looking forward to the second edition of the Alumni Baseball game in 2022!

On a parting note, Alum Gavin Luebke ‘21 worked the scoreboard at the Alumni Baseball game and is excited to return to his role as the Coach of the Young Alumni team in the upcoming Alumni Soccer Game, which is taking place on July 28th, at 7 PM, at McKnight Field. All Breck community members are invited to attend as the Young Alumni team looks to even the score after an incredibly competitive 3-2 loss to the Breck Alumni All-Stars in 2021.

To view a gallery of photos from the game, click here.
 

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