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Mark Light Field, “The Field of Dreams,” came alive tonight as the future stars of baseball confidently paid tribute to over 70 returning heroes who have graced this cherished turf. This place has always been infused with the joy and excitement that define the great sport of baseball. While the outcome was predictable, the real value lay in watching the boys of spring return to create new memories. Our current team boldly shared the spotlight with their heroes, forging lasting impressions of their own.
Griffin Hugus confidently took the mound to face off against a stellar lineup that included yesterday’s stars: James Davison, YoYO Morales, Alex Toral, Carlos Perez, and Alex Martinez. These players are respected talents who have graced this sacred ground, and Griffin was eager to pitch against them in the opening inning. He struck out two batters and walked two others, but YoYO seized a moment of carelessness from Griffin, stealing second base while the pitcher remained unfocused. However, Griffin quickly regained his composure, allowing no further damage as he pitched a solid five innings, striking out 10 batters in total. In the fifth inning, the Legends finally recorded their first hit, aided by an error from Fabio Peralta in right field, which allowed them to score after trailing 6-0 at that stage of the game.
After yesterday’s scrimmage, where the bats exploded for 18 hits, the team initially struggled, not coming alive until the second inning, taking full advantage of subpar pitching. Tanner Smith and Todd Hudson ignited the inning with back-to-back singles, setting the stage for a remarkable turn as nine batters came to the plate, ultimately scoring 5 runs. The highlight of the inning was when Dorian Gonzalez Senior faced off against his son, Dorian Junior, with the bases loaded. Expectations ran high as Senior was poised to either throw a memorable pitch or put his son in his place. After a battle to a full count, Senior ultimately lost Junior to a walk. Following this, four more runs scored, including two via walks and one hit. The team worked through the lineup, triggering the mercy rule and limiting the damage to five runs. They repeated this success in the 7th inning, once again working through the lineup and scoring another five runs. A bases-loaded clearing double by Evan Taveras in the 7th was followed two batters later by a clutch double from Jake Kulikowski added two more runs.
The Canes confidently secured their 6th run in the third inning with a sacrifice fly by Jake Ogden, successfully bringing in Todd Hudson, who highlighted the inning with his second hit. In the 5th, the Canes strengthened their lead, promptly responding to the Legends’ initial score. Tanner Smith kicked off the rally with a lead-off double, and Fabio Peralta capped it off with a decisive RBI single to drive him home.
With the change of pitchers, Griffin was replaced by the two candidates for setup and closer: Jackson Cleveland and Will Smith. Yesterday, both had unimpressive performances, each allowing a home run. However, today was a different story. The slate was wiped clean, and they both shined, facing three batters each and striking them out convincingly.
In the 8th inning, Michael Fernandez was on the mound, and Fabio Peralta once again dominated conversations both at the plate and in the field. An error in the 5th allowed the Legends to score their first run, but he redeemed himself in the 8th with the defensive play of the day—a diving catch in center field. He then stepped up in the bottom half of the inning and delivered a strong double to right that should have been a triple, were it not for the overly cautious 3rd base coach, Chris Dominguez, holding Hudson at 3rd. To win games, Dominguez needs to adopt a more aggressive strategy. This is not the first time he has held runners from scoring, and it’s clear he needs to learn from these instances. Fortunately, Gaby stepped up and delivered a sac fly to score Hudson, with Evan Taveras following up with an RBI single.
In the 9th inning, the Legends were determined to score one more time, despite AJ Ciscar’s efforts. Fabio, now playing center, let a ball slip past him, allowing a double to turn into a runner on 3rd. Back-to-back singles brought in a run, but AJ closed out the inning emphatically by striking out the last legend, leaving runners stranded on 2nd and 3rd. This brought the curtain down on another exciting celebration that thrilled the fans.
It was an outstanding evening for everyone involved—the legends, the future stars, and especially the fans. They witnessed an impressive display of 14 runs on 15 hits, featuring 4 players with remarkable performances: Fabio Peralta shone with a standout 3-3 at the plate, including a double. He was joined by Evan Taveras, who went 2-3 with a BL clearing double. Tanner Smith also impressed with a 2-3 showing that included a double, as did Todd Hudson, who matched the same numbers. Jake Kulikowski added another double to the mix. In a surprising turn, not a single home run left the ballpark.
No time for celebration. The future stars are back on the field Sunday morning at 1130AM for possibly the last scrimmage before opening day next Friday against Niagara.
