Badger baseball hopes to hit home run at season opener

By Trevor Dobbins, Rylee Moore and Phoebe Terry

Page Editor and Co-Editors

Amarillo College’s inaugural baseball season kicks off Feb. 4 at noon at Hodgetown with a four-game series against Luna Community College.

The doors open at 11 a.m., tickets are free for students and faculty, $10 for adults and $7 for children.

“I’m just ready to play,” Ri’shon Pearl, an outfielder on the team and dental hygiene major, said.

“Get out there at Hodgetown and just play some ball. I’ve been waiting all
fall and working hard, every-
body has,” said Pearl.

The Badgers played in some non-conference games during the fall semester, but this game marks the begin- ning of a 56 game season. It is also historic in its place as the first baseball season after the return of intercol- legiate sports to AC.

The players say they are excited for the season.

“My goal is to be one of the best hitters in the conference,” Pearl said. “My all time dream is to make it to the big leagues, and doing this is the first step to getting there, so I just have to put in the work.”

Cesar Gonzalez, a computer information systems major, said “I just don’t want to hang up the cleats yet, you know? Playing ball is fun, it reminds me a lot of high school. Just an extra two years of high school is what I see it as,” he said.

The Badger baseball team consists of 47 athletes, including Amarillo natives such as Will Franklin, an outfielder for the Badgers and former Amarillo High player, as well as Tascosa High standout Javin Patrick and athletes from outside of Texas.

The baseball team was approved to play in the Hodgetown stadium last February, during a regular board of regents meeting. According to Chris Sharp, the vice president of business affairs, a sea- son of eight to nine home games will cost between $50,000 to $57,000.

“We get full use of Hodgetown, the field, the visiting locker room, indoor batting cages and the advertising and media,” Sharp said. Concessions will also be available for specta- tors during the game.

Additionally, the Sod Poodles will provide all of the necessary employees for game day operations and have agreed to sell Amarillo College athletic merchandise in their team store. Sod Poodle merchandise is also avail- able for purchase at the AC bookstore on the Washington Street Campus.

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