Baseball Boys from North of the Border

Story and Photo by Monica Ortiz

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Seaway Surges found themselves seated at NBT Bank Stadium on Thursday night for the Syracuse Chiefs game. The boys baseball team had come two hours south from Brockville, Canada to Syracuse to play in a baseball tournament.

On this night they were the spectators It was the night before waking up early the next morning for their first big game of the tournament.

Seated in the left field seats, Connor Vanluit, 14, said it was a great bonding experience.

"We all get to have fun and it's good baseball," he said. We have a bunch of goofballs on our team. It's a good group of kids this year."

The Seaway Surges exploring NBT Bank Stadium 

(c) 2017 Photo by: Monica Ortiz

While the team has only been playing together for a month, many of the kids played on the same team the previous year.

Ben Anderson's favorite part of the game was watching "dingers", otherwise known as home runs, but waiting and hoping to catch a foul ball also was a thrill. It made the game more exciting.

He brought his glove and left the game with a special souvenir.

The Chiefs' Brandon Dixon, hit the ball into the stands. Foul ball.

The boys in their bright orange uniforms, crowded around as Ben caught the ball in his glove. The guys cheered. A grin on Ben's face, he got what he wanted. It turns out so did the Chiefs.

On the last pitch of the game, Alejandro De Aza, hit a home run over wall in right-center field. The Seaway Surges and the rest of fans the stands went wild.

"Saturdays are for the boys," Ben Anderson said when asked about the team.

Maybe that should read Thursdays too?

The Chiefs won the ball game 5 to 4. Thursday night was a win for both the Seaway Surges and the Syracuse Chiefs.