RICHMOND – For decades, baseball was a sport that brought diverse groups together and fostered a sense of community.
Saturday at The Diamond, baseball accepted that mission again with the Richmond Flying Squirrels hosting a part of Hanover County’s 300th birthday celebration.
As an added bonus, the Squirrels brought the home fans a victory in addition to a good show.
“This is All-American, to have a birthday party at the ballpark with a thousand of your friends. It’s wonderful,” said Sean Davis, chair of the Hanover County Board of Supervisors. “That’s why we’re so grateful that everybody was able to come out, particularly now.”
Davis was part of a host of Hanover County representatives throwing out ceremonial first pitches. Along with Davis, other hurlers were county Administrator John Budesky, Cold Harbor District Supervisor F. Michael Herzberg, South Anna District Supervisor Sue Dibble, Mechanicsville District supervisor W. Canova Peterson and Peterson’s designated thrower, his great-grandson Aiden Mundy.
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The first pitch of choice was a curve, with Budesky tossing a looper worthy of Boston Red Sox legend Bill Lee, but Mundy showed he could throw heat for a strike.
After that, it was time for the professional hurlers to take over, and Richmond pitcher Akeel Morris was the first to step on the mound. His task was to take the fight out of a Reading Fightin’ Phils team that had beaten the Flying Squirrels three straight times before Saturday night’s contest.
Morris’ turn on the mound got off to a promising start. Three up, three down on two fly outs and a groundout.
Reading starter Adam Leverett started on an equally promising note. After giving up a single to Richmond leadoff batter Simon Whiteman – who subsequently stole second – Leverett retired the next three batters to end the Flying Squirrel scoring threat.
The second inning, both sides went down in order. In the third, the Fightin’ Phils got their first baserunner, Jack Conley, on the first of only two walks given up by Morris. Conley was sacrificed to second by Leverett, and there he was stranded. After three innings of what was looking to be a pitcher’s duel, the game remained scoreless.
Just because there was little action on the basepaths doesn’t mean there was little action in the block of seats reserved for Hanover County residents.
For its birthday, the county had bought a block of tickets down the left field line and sold them to residents for $3 a seat. The seats were sold out, but the heavy rain earlier that day encouraged many of the ticket holders to make alternate plans. Nevertheless, the show went on.
“Mother Nature wanted to mess it up in the beginning,” said Flying Squirrels CEO Todd “Parney” Parnell. “But we did not let Mother Nature mess with Hanover County’s 300th anniversary.”
The smaller county crowd at The Diamond made up for the diminished attendance with overflowing energy, especially among the shorter – i.e., younger – attendees.
Children who normally needed no encouragement to jump around enthusiastically complied between innings early in the game when the House of Pain song, “Jump Around,” was played. Not only did parents encourage their kids to jump; some even helped their kids get more air than their short legs would otherwise mange.
Of course, there were goodies like popcorn and cotton candy to supply ample fuel for ample amounts of appropriately manic energy.
One of the cotton candy-fueled contingent was 5-year-old Ellis Peace, who attended the game with his dad, Justin, and mom, Jessica.
While Ellis was busy munching on a big cloud of sugary filaments, his mother explained what additional treats the game offered the youth.
“Ellis was playing in the Atlee Little League this year,” Jessica Peace said. “So being able to come to a baseball game and see the bigger players play gives him something to aspire to, to see how it’s really done instead of the funniness that happens with the 5-year-olds on Atlee’s baseball fields.”
Ellis himself had a unique style of play this past season.
“Ellis this season liked to stand in his position with his hat turned backwards and facing the outfield so that looked like he was playing baseball,” his mother said. “But he was really just watching the people in the outfield.”
Ellis’ method had additional benefits.
“He saw every airplane that went over, though,” Justin Peace said. “He watched it until it was gone.”
Remember, Ellis is only 5. These things happen.
The county’s birthday celebration at The Diamond was a special event for the family.
“My family has been in Hanover County since the 1600s. We have a road named after us down near Black Creek – Peace Road,” Justin Peace said. “We came down here on the second ship to Jamestown – the Coleman side of my family – and the Peace’s have been here almost as long as that. It’s pretty cool to be here 300 years.”
While some in the stands focused on barely restrained silliness – like giving their dad a pie in the face between innings – and county history, the professional players on The Diamond, however, kept their focus on the action. That focus paid off for the Squirrels in the fourth inning when they scored the game’s only run.
Reading was the first to show some offensive spark with two outs in the top of the frame with back-to-back singles by Josh Stephen and Grenny Cumana. Second, however, was as far as ay of the Fightin’ Phils got.
Richmond third baseman David Villar put himself in scoring position with a one-out double in the bottom of the inning. First baseman Frankie Tostado hit a long fly ball to Reading’s Cumana in right field, but Villar was able to tag up and advance to third. Richmond right fielder Diego Rincones did the rest, hitting a single to left field to bring Villar home.
After that, the pitchers’ duel resumed. Richmond’ starter Morris (2-0) threw for two more innings before yielding the mound to reliever Ronnie Williams, who threw three innings of scoreless and hitless relief to earn his first save. The pair combined for eight strikeouts – four apiece.
The evening ended with an in-the-park firework show – the candles to a birthday cake of an evening. It was a cake Parnell was happy to serve the people of Hanover County.
“We pride ourselves on being a place where people can celebrate anything,” Parnell said. “Hanover County did a great job tonight celebrating its 300th anniversary.
“It wasn’t just tonight. It’s something that we’ve been working on for an awfully long time, their folks and our folks combining and working together to make it just a great celebration.”
While sports editor Dave Lawrence grew up in Louisiana, he has roots in Hanover County that extend back to the 1600s. He can be reached at dlawrence@mechlocal.com.
