Education Day with Bryce Harper

(All images courtesy of Craig MacHenry/Capitol Baseball 2011)

Yesterday afternoon, I ventured into small, and somewhat backwards, town of Hagerstown to watch a 10:35am ballgame. The day's promotion, Education Day, brought in about a thousand elementary/middle school aged students, to cheer on their beloved Suns; but more importantly, to eat gallons of Dippin' Dots Ice Cream of the Future. It was the earliest game I have seen since little league. And though some of the on-field play was little league-esque, the Suns were able to take advantage of the miscues to pick up a 7-3 win.

Let's take a look at some of the highlights from the day.

- Most importantly - Bryce Harper was able to come back from 2 early strikeouts to finish the day 2 for 5 with an RBI. Here is his At-Bat rundown:
1 - Fly out to CF on the first pitch of the AB.
2 - Strikeout swinging against Luis "Father Christmas" Noel.
3 - Strikeout on a check swing and rung up by the Home Plate ump.
4 - 2-out, RBI single but thrown out going to 2nd base (was sent by his coach).
5 - Single to RF.

- In addition to his day at the plate, Harper had an eventful day in the field. Recording 3 outs - 1) A brilliant catch at the wall for the first out of the game 2) A foul out in the 6th and 3) A great catch in the gap in the 9th.

- The most interesting Harper play of the day was in the 2nd when he tried to throw a runner out at the plate - the throw, from deep right, went well over the catchers head and into the netting. If on target, it would've been a photo finish.

- 2008 18th Round pick LHP Bobby Hansen picked up his 4th win of the season with a quality start, though he seemed to struggle early in his outing. 6 IP. 7 H. 3 R. 2 ER. 3 BB. 3 K.

- The Delmarva Shorebirds (seriously, that's their name) starter, Luis "Father Christmas" Noel, had a very rough outing, lasting just 3 innings. In those three innings he managed to allow 4 runs on just 3 hits, due to the fact that he walked a whopping 7 batters.

- Shane McCatty, son of Nats pitching coach Steve McCatty, threw 2 innings of 1 hit ball in the 7th and 8th.

- Chris Manno, 26th round pick from this past year, closed out the game with his herky-jerky mechanics. It was a 1-2-3 inning with 2 strikeouts.

- Other standouts for the Suns were...
Blake Kelso (10th rounder from 2010) - 2 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI.
Adrian Sanchez (International FA in 2007) - 2 for 5 with a double and 2 runs.
Michael Taylor (6th rounder from 2009) - 1 for 3 with a double, walk, 2 RBI, and a run.

So, if you ever find yourself at Municipal Stadium in Hagerstown, MD be sure to pack the sun screen and the ear plugs (the announcer yells everything!). And make sure you don't go on Education Day - cause that was loud.