It has been a fantastic weekend of baseball for my family. Growing up my four younger brothers and I have played baseball our entire lives. We always dreamt big that someday we would make it to the big leagues. Of course, not all dreams come true but this weekend was pretty memorable.
A couple of years ago Josh played one season for the Canberra Cavalry in the Australian Baseball League (ABL). This year my youngest brother, Dermot is playing for the Brisbane Bandits. Fortunately for us (Fritsch’s) the Melbourne Aces have had a few injuries and were short a few players as they headed up to Brisbane this weekend to take on the Bandits. On Wednesday (10th Jan) Josh was asked if he could play for Melbourne against the Bandits on the weekend.
So we have a brother/son playing on each side this weekend which makes it both tough to decide on which team you want to win but in the end for us as a family, it doesn’t matter. Josh started the first game on Thursday night, played the majority of the game but came out towards the end, just as Dermot came on for the Bandits. Friday nights game saw Josh play the whole game for Melbourne and again Dermot came on in the later innings. So we finally had it both boys on the field at the same time. Which made the game all the better for us as a family to watch. Josh managed to drive a single to right field and later in the inning Josh and Dermot, who was playing second base, managed to run into each other on the field just like we all used when we played in the front yard.
Saturday was a doubleheader in the sweltering heat of the Brisbane summer. Dermot started and played both games in their entirety. Josh was on the bench for both games today. However, it was during the second game, the final inning of play where things just topped off the weekend. Dermot was leading off the inning and managed to work it to a full count and then managed to square one up and drove a line drive over left fields head for his first hit in the ABL, a lead-off double. He would come around to score, and the Bandits went on to win the game. For his efforts leading off the last inning, Dermot was part of the post-game giving an interview.
With the final game in the series taking place on Sunday, we are looking forward to seeing what happens. Hopefully, both Josh and Dermot can get on the field together again.
Ryan