By Joe Godomsky ’20

Incredible experiences come with hard work. Over the summer my Babe Ruth league all-star team won states. We knew we had a talented team, but winning states is a feat that we have failed to achieve for the last six years, making this extremely special. We went into the state tournament as a strong contender for the state title. Since Augusta was hosting the regional tournament, their team automatically made it past states. Two teams get to go to the regional tournament, this made our chances of making regionals very good. We won our first game against Lisbon and played our rival Augusta next. They were by far the best team in the tournament besides us, making this game very competitive. Through a hard fought battle, we ended up on the losing side. This did not kick us out of the tournament due to the tournament being double elimination. Afterward, we proceeded to win two other times to reach the championship game. We had to beat Augusta twice considering we were in the losing bracket, making our feat of winning states very unlikely. After an extremely exciting game, we proceeded to secure our first win; this caused Augusta to become very frustrated and our team to become extremely excited. We had the momentum for the second game, and we had our ace on the mound.

The result of winning states after being down two games was extremely exciting but it was not nearly as exciting as the email we received from the commissioner of the league a couple weeks after states. He informed us that every single year the state winners from all age groups get to go to Fenway Park and walk on the field in front of thousands of people. My jaw dropped! I’ve gone to Fenway Park many times but never have I ever thought that I would be walking on the field. I was ecstatic and could not wait until the day we left for Boston.

I took the train into the Red Sox stadium and was greeted by all my friends. We got together and walked over to the gate where we would prepare to walk onto the field. All the state winners clustered together prior to the gate opening in joyous fashion. They began calling people up towards the gate, closer and closer to Fenway Park. I reached the gate and I could see the field where almost every MLB player from 1912 and beyond has stepped foot. Not only do I see it but when they call my team out to walk onto the field, it was one of the most special moments I have ever experienced. We continued to walk down right next to the Green Monster and then we stopped. I stood there and took one very slow turn. I looked at the field, and I looked at the crowd; I could not believe that I was standing on the field at Fenway Park. I couldn’t take in the importance of this until I saw myself on the Jumbotron. I was filled with so much happiness that I couldn’t take it in all at once. Right before we walked off the field, I bent down and grabbed a handful of dirt from right in front of the Green Monster. I needed something to truly remember this experience.    

We stood there for approximately ten minutes before being asked to walk back off the field. While walking off, I looked slightly to my right. Out of the corner of my eye Noah Syndergaard, the New York Mets ace was standing right there doing his warmups. The 6 foot 6 inch, 240-pound man that they call “Thor” was standing right next to me. He is by far one of the hardest pitchers to face in the MLB and he was standing right next to me. I could not have had a more special experience.