The Kenston Bombers baseball team held an alumni game on July 6, bringing back a long line of former players, including a 1984 graduate, all the way to the class of 2024.
The Kenston Bombers baseball team held an alumni game on July 6, bringing back a long line of former players, including a 1984 graduate, all the way to the class of 2024.
“It’s awesome to see them come together and show who built the foundation of this program,” said Kenston baseball Head Coach Joe Hritz. “We had a big push from the alumni to be able to do this. I tell these guys that if there’s anything they want they just have to let me know and we’ll find a way to get together. This was a long time coming.”
The game ended in a 7-7 tie after seven full innings, with some major highlights in the mix.
Wes Toth crunched a solo home run to left-center to get his team on the board, trailing 2-1 until Matthew Pecoraro flipped the game on its head with a two-out two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth for a 3-2 lead.
“If you saw me in the cage before the game, I swung and missed at everything,” Pecoraro said. “You’d be shocked I even hit the ball today, so hitting a home run was hilarious. And, I hit a double off my younger brother, too (Tommy Pecoraro), that felt good.”
Between Matthew hitting a double off his brother, and Toth playing with some teammates he won a state championship game with, there were some new memories made, and old ones reminisced.
“It was a thought in the winter, to have an alumni game for all the guys,” Toth said. “It’s good to see them all out here.”
Two other former Bombers who made an impact were Avery Siperke, a former teammate of Toth, and Tyler Rendelsham, who’s an assistant coach on the staff.
Rendelsham roped an RBI double in the second frame to give his team a 1-0 lead, and later on in the seventh, with them trailing 6-3, Sipeke cleared the bases with a three-run double.
“I didn’t have too many good at-bats earlier in the game, so I changed up my approach,” Siperke said. “I haven’t swung a bat in about a year. I just didn’t think about it, and put the bat on the ball.”
Rendelsham, who also pitched two shutout frames with five strikeouts, added, “I knew I’d be alright on the mound. That’s what I specialize in. I went to college and pitched, and I’m the pitching coach here, too. I was worried about the hitting. I didn’t get any swings in before the game, but I knew the pitcher throwing against me, so I knew what to expect. I just got my hands through on a ball, drove it to left field, and I was fortunate enough for us to score.”
It took a few innings for both sides to really get clicking, but once things got rolling it became a hitters’ park.
“It’s great to see these guys because they got smiles on their faces,” Coach Hritz said. “We got the field ready for them this morning. Shout-out to our maintenance crew at Kenston for getting everything set up for us. It’s good just to get everyone back together and talk about old stories. Early on, it was tight, the guys were playing hard, but then the guys tired out, and the bats came alive. It’s a beautiful thing to see everyone coming back.”
The Bombers hope to expand on this alumni game next year, potentially adding softball to the mix as well.
