2009.07.06
Summer Moments: The game outside
He wore a grass-stained ball cap that almost hid his eyes.
Devin Epperly, 12, of Franklin County stood in line with the rest of the boys on a strip of grass behind the first-base grandstand at Salem Memorial Ballpark on June 29.
Inside the stadium, it was the top of the sixth inning with the Salem Red Sox leading the Lynchburg Hillcats 5-0.
But on the makeshift field, Devin and his crew jeered a pint-sized pitcher to quit throwing junk.
After a boy in a navy blue hat singled, Devin stepped into the imaginary batter's box.
"Throw me something good, man. Something I can actually hit," Devin said. The line of boys behind him echoed his call for the perfect pitch.
The first pitch sailed outside the strike zone, eliciting trash talk and requests for a new pitcher. Unshaken, the righty went into his wind-up, hoping to issue a deceptive Wiffle Ball pitch.
Devin gripped the blaze orange bat, awaiting the heave.
Overhand delivery. Fastball, chest-high.
Hitting is Devin's favorite part of the game. He doesn't play organized ball but hopes to in the future. It was his older brother, Dustin, who taught him how to swing.
And swing he did. Devin hammered the ball past the outfield and toward a pack of middle-school girls. He circled the makeshift bases.
The gang greeted him at home plate with high fives and fist bumps.
Afterward, Dustin Epperly found his younger brother and the two made their way back inside the ballpark.
- Jared Soares
