Brewster Baseball Game for US Heroes

[In the UK we have events organized by Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion to highlight the sacrifices made by the Armed Forces. On the other side of ‘The Pond’ in Brewster last Monday, 8 June 2009, the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) showed the national sport in action for the same cause, to support the US military].

CCBL All Stars vs. Military/Latin All Star squad
By Matt Rice

An all star team made up of players from all five Eastern Division teams from the Cape League took on a talented Military All Star team during the unofficial start to the 2009 CCBL summer season on Monday afternoon in Brewster.

This year marks the fifth year the Military team has traveled to Cape Cod to help raise awareness of the sacrifices being made by the men and women in the Armed Forces, and is part of their 20th “Red White and Blue Tour of America.”

The Military team, joined for the first time by a team of Latin All Stars, defeated the CCBL team 5-2 on Monday, avenging their loss to the Western Division the night before, which had snapped their 17-game winning streak.

“It was just great to be out here with a truly outstanding crowd,” said new Brewster manager Tom Myers. “We wish we had been able to get the win in the process, but you have to give them credit, they (Military team) played hard and didn’t make mistakes, and that’s the key to winning baseball games.

A lengthy pregame ceremony, which included a pair of flyovers from a Coast Guard H3U Falcon Jet from Air Station Cape Cod and a flag ceremony, thrilled the crowd of more than 1700 people.

The Military team is comprised of serviceman currently serving in some branch of the military. They wore their custom camouflage uniform, which has become their signature look, while their Latin All Star teammates wore all red uniforms.

Playing since March, the team has traveled all over the world playing different teams including Spring Training games against the Boston Red Sox and L.A. Dodgers.

The CCBL team wore the uniforms of their respective 2009 team.

The Military squad took an early 2-0 after some sloppy play by the CCBL team in the field.

“Some of these guys haven’t played a real game in a couple weeks and it showed out there a little bit. But all these guys are talented players, on both sides,” said Myers.

The Cape League squad answered with a run in the bottom of the first inning as the game remained a one-run game until the fifth inning when the Military team took the lead for good.

The Harwich Mariners, who kick off their season on Thursday against their Championship Series counterpart from a year ago, the Cotuit Kettleers.

The Mariners were represented with four of their 2009 players, including second baseman Dain Hall, outfielder Tyler Lockwood, and pitchers Mike Gipson and Les Williams.

The remaining eight teams in the league will kick off their summer season on Friday.

Above: Devin Lohman turns a double play during the game on Monday

Text and photo credit: Matt Rice, reprinted with permission from The Cape Codder newspaper, Orleans, Massachusetts USA; http://www.wickedlocapecod.com/

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