Rising Sun lost a baseball game Friday. It was still a successful night in every meaningful way. Proceeds benefitted the Joshua Hamer Memorial Scholarship Fund. Hamer, a Rising Sun-area native who played baseball at John Carroll, died in a vehicle collision in March, 2017. Josh's mother, Jennifer, threw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the John Carroll’s 6-4 comeback victory. "A year ago, the IronBirds hosted the first Joshua Hamer Memorial Baseball Game here," Jennifer Hamer said. "We raised almost $10,000 that evening. Since then, the Harford community, Rising Sun community, John Carroll, friends, family, loved ones, have been an amazing support system to my son's legacy, to his honor. We've been able to give out two scholarships over the past year to two different people coming in to John Carroll. The support I've been able to have over the last year is what has made my son's scholarship grow and keep his legacy going. And this night is where it all started and they are a blessing in my life. [IronBirds general manager] Matt Slatus has been amazing. They've been amazing from last year all the way through this year."
Scores of people, some they know and some they don't, have helped the Hamer family deal with the unimaginable. "We live in Rising Sun and my son went to John Carroll on a scholarship," said Jennifer Hamer. "You take for granted, I guess, expectations of ever thinking you're going to go through something like this. So when you do, it's heart-wrenching, but my local community and the John Carroll community, and all my friends and family and strangers have been able to lift me up and lift my son's memory up, through fundraisers and through events that we've been able to host under his memorial. I see it every day and I hear stories about how my son changed someone's life, daily. That's what parents hope to be able to hear one day and usually don;t ever get to. I've been able to get to hear those." In a nice touch, Tigers' coach Steven Barker gave everyone on his roster the opportunity to play on Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium. Playing for the fourth straight day, Rising Sun was unable to hang on to an early lead. Trailing 4-3, John Carroll rallied for three runs in the top of the sixth to take command. Grant Astle drew a walk to start the decisive uprising. After a pitching change, Johnny Galant also walked. Following a strikeout, Tyler Bittersdorf walked to load the bases and Brandon Crews walked to force in the tying run. Stelio Stakias drove in the go-ahead run with a ground ball to shortstop and the Tigers were unable to get a force at second. Nico Santoro hit a sacrifice fly to center to tack on an insurance run. Rising Sun went down in order in the top of the seventh. The Tigers had taken a 2-0 lead in the top of the first and held an advantage until the sixth. With one out in the first, Kenny Dollenger walked and Johnny Kampes hit a bloop single to center. Zac Chadwick reached on an error to load the bases. After a strikeout, Evan Wallace clubbed a two-run double but Chadwick was thrown out at the plate. Bittersdorf singled in a run in the home half but Rising Sun responded with two more in the top of the second. Brett Valentin lashed a single to right-center and Ryan Bauer had a one-out single to left. After the second out, Dollenger walked to load the bases and Kampes delivered an RBI single through the hole. Another run scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-1. Rising Sun would not score again. Ahead 4-3 in the fifth, reliever Thomas Adams and the Tigers wriggled out of a big jam, thanks in large part to the catcher Kampes picking a runner off second when the Patriots had two on and nobody out. But John Carroll took advantage of its chances an inning later to pull out the win. Comments are closed.
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