I recently moved to South Carolina and I decided to visit as many baseball parks as I can before I die. You can follow along with my progress via Google Maps. I will chronicle what stands out to me about each ballpark and share my thoughts here on the blog.
My wife and I had the chance to watch six innings of Division 1 college baseball at Cleveland S. Harley Baseball Park on May 20th. It was the final home game for the University of South Carolina Upstate Spartans in 2017. The Spartans hosted New Jersey Institute of Technology in a battle between the bottom two teams in the Atlantic Sun Conference. USC Upstate ended up winning 13-12 on a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning.
The player that stood out for his performance on the field was Charlie Carpenter, a junior catcher for USC Upstate. Charlie hit a home run in each of his first two plate appearances and finished the game with four runs batted in (RBI). Even though we only watched six innings of baseball we witnessed five home runs. There were about 100 fans in attendance for the final game of the season. About 20 family and friends from NJIT had made the trip down to South Carolina. Sadly NJIT is losing their home stadium in the summer of 2017 and will have to find a new place to play games.
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| Cleveland S Harley Baseball Park |
My wife and I had the chance to watch six innings of Division 1 college baseball at Cleveland S. Harley Baseball Park on May 20th. It was the final home game for the University of South Carolina Upstate Spartans in 2017. The Spartans hosted New Jersey Institute of Technology in a battle between the bottom two teams in the Atlantic Sun Conference. USC Upstate ended up winning 13-12 on a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning.
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| Tom Brady bats for NJIT |
The player that stood out for his performance on the field was Charlie Carpenter, a junior catcher for USC Upstate. Charlie hit a home run in each of his first two plate appearances and finished the game with four runs batted in (RBI). Even though we only watched six innings of baseball we witnessed five home runs. There were about 100 fans in attendance for the final game of the season. About 20 family and friends from NJIT had made the trip down to South Carolina. Sadly NJIT is losing their home stadium in the summer of 2017 and will have to find a new place to play games.
Cleveland S Harley Baseball Park is understated with symmetrical outfield walls and a pretty green forest as a backdrop. The PA system pumped out current country hits mixed with old school rock and roll. We were lucky to have some shade from the press box as we lounged in green plastic chairs and watched from right behind home plate. The breeze blew towards the outfield ever so slightly so the United States and South Carolina flags were on full display. This is the level of baseball where they track down every foul ball and rotate it back in play; but I managed to snag the ball that Alex Burman hit over the right field wall in the fourth inning.
The most memorable moment came in the top of the fourth inning. We had been making small talk with some of the NJIT supporters that were sitting behind us. A grandfather had made the drive from Charlotte, NC to see his grandson play and Cody Kramer's mother had flown down from New Jersey for her son's final college baseball game. Cody hit a pop fly towards the left field fence and at first we all thought it was too high and would be caught for an out. The right fielder kept retreating towards the fence and suddenly he jumped up and reached towards the top of the outfield wall. The ball hit his glove and bounced over the fence for a NJIT home run!
Cody's mother cried tears of joy as she repeatedly exclaimed her amazement after she realized the ball had left the stadium. She was shaking so badly she couldn't take a picture with her camera. She said "he's hit one or two home runs before but never one like that!"
I will always remember Cody Kramer's last college home run: a special moment for the mother of a player who only won nine games in his senior season.
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