A Dream Comes True

Just wanted to take a minute and let you know that the Tribury team yesterday helped make a kids dream come true. I’ve had a kid named Russell Boyles on my Amenia team for two years. Russell attends SUNY Cobelskill college, and is the only college player on the Monarchs roster. His grandfather Bob came to every Monarchs game right up until his death. His grandson (Russell) was born physically handicapped (Cerebral Palsy) but loves the game as much as his grandfather did. For Christmas 2 years ago his parents and I gave him a Monarchs uniform and I called him and asked if he’d be interested in joining the team. As you can imagine his reaction was priceless. Yesterday, with the help of Tribury, I was able to get him his first at bat. Down only 1 run with 2 outs in the 7th I gave him his shot. He got beaned on the first pitch! Most would think that would be terrible! Not Russell. He smiled and slowly lumbered his way down to first. When I asked him if he needed a runner his responses’ was “ Are you kidding? I just got beaned and now I’m running the bases, NO WAY!” Next batter flied out and Amenia lost again, although this loss wasn’t really a loss. I just wanted to express Russell’s, Russell’s family, and my own gratitude to Tribury! Class act all the way around, and a great game of baseball in Amenia. “Russell is such a great kid and got to live out his dream” stated head coach Tom Downey. “These are the stories and experiences that keep me on as commissioner” stated Ed Gadomski. “It’s not the winning and losing, it’s not the scheduling or dealing with umpires or frustrated players. Its life experiences that ‘outway’ the un-fun part… I also said I took this job on as it was my chance to give back. This is exactly what I meant, life changing stories along with fundraiser ball games for charity”.

Thank you to Tom Downey, Amenia Monarchs and the Tribury Cave.