Keep up with the Phoenix during their global experience in the Dominican Republic. Junior Daniel Albrittain talks about the team's first full day in the DR on Sunday, which was spent at a youth clinic and attending a Dominican Winter League game.
Today was Elon Baseball’s first full day in the Dominican Republic. After arriving last night and settling into our rooms, we awoke this morning to the beautiful Dominican climate and enjoyed the mid 80-degree weather all day. After eating breakfast, the team traveled to a local ball field in order take have a short team practice, followed by a youth clinic for members of the local community.
As we arrived at the field, it was clear that these kids were not playing on the quality of field that American youth are accustomed to. The field was far from perfect: the infield was little more than a rough patch of dirt, while the outfield was full of rocks and debris. However, there wasn't a single frown on any face of the 100-plus Dominican children that were thankful for the opportunity to share the game that they loved.
While our practice was wrapping up, the children were eager to get onto the field and begin playing themselves. Batting practice balls flying everywhere still could not stop Anthony Galason and a 13-year-old Dominican native from having a very extensive game of long toss. When practice finally concluded, the 100 or so youth players were arranged by age and sent off to five stations: hitting, catching, pitching, corner infield and middle infield. This is where the real bonding occurred.
Between the broken Spanish that I was able to muster up and the little bit of English that most of the children knew, there was quite the barrier. This proved to be a non-issue, though, because we all spoke baseball. While in a conversation with a Dominican boy named Jacob about how his fastball was “fuego,” I had used up just about all of the Spanish I knew.
As the youth clinic was wrapping up, there wasn’t a face without a smile. Myself, and the rest of the Elon team, had an absolute blast while experiencing how the young boys, from a country that produces the most MLB players per capita, learn to play the game that we all love and cherish so much. The bonds we were able to create in such a short time and across a language barrier truly astonished me.
The team had an absolute blast as we got the opportunity to see professional ball players go at it. The atmosphere in the stadium was out of this world. Each run scored by the home team, Estrellas, was greeted with an astounding amount of cheers and dancing from all, including stadium employees, locals and even the Estrellas bench.
From playing ball with locals to attending a great baseball game, I began to realize what a great day we had. I am so grateful for the opportunity we had to experience the true Dominican culture through baseball today.
- Daniel Albrittain