I decided to ring Canberra Cavalry's office before the game to check a few details... so glad I did! They allowed us to come in early each game to watch batting practice and warm ups which is a big aspect of the experience for me.
I love the games where I can go in about 2 hours early, watch the team during Batting Practice (BP), then warm ups and see the grounds crew prime the field ready for play. This is when you hear the true sounds of summer...the boys walking around in their cleats, the crack of the cage bats, balls connecting with the glove and watching the players get their game face on! It's all there for you...the fans!
We sat down the 1st baseline behind the Aces' dugout and had a great front row railing to hang our signs. I had made a great sign to cheer on Kevin Reese who was starting pitcher but accidently left one of the panels at home. Noooo! So I whipped up a temporary sign for him and a few of the players and started hanging them on our fence line.
Before long, we met the man who heads up the catering for the ballpark who started some friendly banter with us cause we were from Melbourne. He is an absolute hoot! He has become a major highlight of this trip for us as well as the rest of the catering team who walked by us hundreds of times...and each time the friendly banter got better!
I was so laughed out during the first game we had to keep telling him to leave as he was giving us a stitch from laughing so much!
A few of my highlights from Game 1 were...
- Aces winning the game! Final score 5-3
- Kevin Reese pitching! Love that boy...so glad he could come back for the summer season. Love watching His command on the mound!
- Meeting Nicole's friend, Penny from ACT who has now become a Cavalry fan after attending the weekend games. She gave me a run for my money cheering on the boys and brought the best out in me!
- With Hubes on 3rd, Bids on 2nd, Josh Hendricks sends a bomb over the wall, (homers) & we scream louder than the whole Canberra Cavalry crowd taking the lead 3-0
- There was a man in our section who was a Cav's fan and a bit of a heckler. He started getting stuck into the Aces team (that is an understatement) but he started losing his voice and couldn't complete a sentence so we began to retaliate with teenage boy 'my voice is breaking' jokes. If you give it, you better be able to take it!
I would have made this trip for this game alone! Canberra are brilliant hosts, they do a great job, Sarge is awesome and it's a great ballpark! Well done to all the staff and volunteers who work hard in the bunkers to prime the field for battle! We will be back!!!