Alpharetta Raiders Baseball - Wednesday
Today was a very fine day in the Dominican Republic as five of our group was hosted by one of the kids Grandfather, who came on the journey, to go sport fishing in the Carribbean – and the rest of us stayed behind lounging on the beach at an all inclusive hotel. It was a beautiful setting and a nice opportunity for the boys to rest up a bit – although I think they may end the day on the more tired side.
Tomorrow we have one game in the morning and then visit a home for street children from Downtown Santo Domingo.
Yesterday we had two ball games playing at the Score International Sports Complex. This is a newly completed area which currently includes several CLASS A baseball and softball fields. The fields were a real treat for our boys and the DR boys to play on. I don’t think ours have ever played on nicer fields except maybe at the Cal Ripken facility. It had perfectly groomed grass and smooth dirt areas – 375 feet to all fences. It was right next to the Rockies Dominican training facility. Largely funded by the Rawlings Foundation – it will eventually include a Bible College and major dorm. Our experience this Thursday will be much different.
The boys played extremely well with a lead for most of the first game. We only had nine boys and the other team had twenty two – with a few being at least 17 years old. It really didn’t bother our kids as they played well and hit well. We didn’t fall behind until a fresh set of BIG substitutions came into the game. It seems like we lost 10-8. With our depth of pitching we went on to win the second game 14-4 when the ten run rule kicked in. Following the game a Score facilitator shared the gospel with the DR team and our team gave them Spanish New Testaments. We also left the team a couple of bags of baseball equipment that we had collected that they could make available to kids who needed gear.
Our speaker last night challenged us to keep baseball in the right perspective and to keep looking to God to reveal to us His purpose for our lives. Keep praying for our team and the Dominican’s that we encounter along the way.
The Dominican Republic Team
