Well Worth The Trip

I had plenty of conversation after last night's NCAA game in Raleigh that I might ride to Raleigh pick up my son Brooks and see if we could buy a ticket to tonight's Pack- William and Mary game.  One of the determining factors for me  was wife Pat came home from work sick Friday afternoon and today she is in the bed with the covers over her head.  Good way for me to get out of the house. Made arrangements with Brooks that we would go Saturday morning and Saturday was a workday for so by 3pm I'm home getting ready to go.

Brooks calls and has an issue with one of his athletes racing in the Triathlon  Sunday in Raleigh and he needs to take care of that so it is down to me only.  I ask Morgan whether she wanted to go but a teenager home for the summer from college doesn't want to get caught within a 100 miles of her father on a Saturday night.Ok then I will go by myself. Phone rings and it is Brooks he's back on again .  Off to Raleigh to Pick up Brooks on the way.

We hit the parking lot about 5:50 and walk up to the ticket window and they are down to about 20 seats left in the bleacher and spaces  on the grass hill. We choose the bleacher and buy the tickets and go stand in the line waiting for the gate to open to let everyone in.  By the time we get to the end of the line the gates open and quickly we are inside the Doak.  First stop the bathroom.  I had not taken two steps out of the bathroom and I hear my name.  I look five feet in front of me is Richard Sarmiento and a conversation breaks out.  Richards has been to Mudcat Stadium and seen game two of the 4-A playoffs and now is here to see Rodon like everyone else.

Richard asked where you sitting and we tell him the bleacher and he says come on over and sit with me down the third base line in the shade.  Richard has two seats but there is now three of us and the place is sold out so don't know whether this will work or not.  Richard's seats are the last two seats near the first base dug out where we can watch Carlos Rodon pregame warmup but only this game State is the visiting team and  across the field ,oh well.

Rodon starts the game not allowing a base runner for the first four innings.  The Speed gun says he is hitting on the gun between 88-90 miles per hour.  Top of fifth he hits the lead off runner.  Top of the sixth William and Mary get their second runner of the game on base when Rodon hits another batter.  The very next batter hits a ground ball where the first baseman should be if he were not holding the base runner on and Bill and Mary have their first hit. No problem as the speed gun is now showing Rodon is hitting 92 miles per hour.  The seventh is almost a repeat of the sixth as Rodon hits his third batter of the game and the very next  bloops a single to right field.  No problem as the speed gun is now popping 94.

No one gets on base in the eighth or ninth but now Rodon is touching 95 an after every pitch everyone in the stadium looks to the out field to see how fast that one was.  The last batter in the bottom of the ninth since William and Mary is  the home team has to look at the two pitches that hit 96 on the radar gun.

State wins 1-0 and advances to the Sunday night possible Regional Championship game.  Carlos Rodan in the last weekend of the regular season gave up six runs to Duke through the first three innings.  They didn't get a hit after that as State won 7-6.  Last Saturday Rodan gave up one hit in the ten innings he pitched against Carolina and tonight gave up two hits and struck out ten  as he goes the distance for the win.  His last 25 innings he has given up 3 hits and no earned runs. It seemed as if he didn't get loose until about the fifth inning.   It is a beautiful thing to watch any athlete that has that groove and tonight Carlos Rodon was in the groove.