Oct. 25, 2010
Mike Seander with Rand Ravnaas 
Mike Seander with Dan Capeless
Mike Seander with Mike Garza
Mike Seander with Alex Meyer
Mike Seander with Kevin Johnson
WASHINGTON - Anyone who plays baseball dreams of what it would be like to play in the Major Leagues. It starts in the backyard or your driveway when you pretend to be your favorite player making the final out of the World Series. If you're lucky enough, you get to continue to dream that dream.
The Georgetown baseball team got to dream a little bit of that dream on Friday, Oct. 15 when the Hoyas played the first part of their annual Blue-Gray Scrimmage at Nationals Park in the District, home of Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals.
It was a surprise gift for the team, as Head Coach Pete Wilk kept it under wraps until that morning, when he got his troops into vans and pulled up at the ballpark.
"From my standpoint, it was worth the three years it took to get it done," Wilk said afterward. "To see the faces on the guys as we drove up to the park and they realized they were going to actually play a game there was great.
"It's a relationship we'd love to build on and we were treated like kings the whole day. I owe a special thanks to the grounds crew for putting extra effort in to allow our kids to get on the mound and step in the box. Overall, it was a great day for our kids and, hopefully, something they'll remember for 30 years."
The players loved the experience. In addition to video, taken by graduate student pitcher Mike Seander, that can be seen on the Georgetown Athletics website - www.guhoyas.com - below is a sample of their thoughts from playing at Nationals Park.
"It was really neat getting to walk in through the players and media entrance of the field," sophomore Justin Leeson (Exton, Pa./West Chester) said. "Warming up was relatively surreal, although the seats were empty it was a good time. We got a chance to experience what few people get to experience and we all thank Coach Wilk for the experience."
"Playing at Nats stadium was one of the coolest baseball experiences I've ever had," freshman Christian Venditti said. "If not, then it was the coolest. I've never played in a big-league park so it was very surreal to be on the same field the pro's play on. I just remember thinking how I'll never forget this experience, and that someday I'll be able to watch a game on TV with my children and say, `I played on that field.' It was a special day that I'll always remember, and I'm simply grateful that I was able to be a part of it."
"Nats Park was pretty surreal," freshman Steve Anderson said. "Being a freshman and new to Georgetown, it really showed me how much work the coaches put in to put together events like that for us. While talking to the older guys, I found out that stuff like this happens a lot around here and it is awesome to be a part of a program like this."
"My experience at Nationals Park was unreal," freshman Justin Abbott said. "I have only been to a few Major League games in my life, so to actually play on the field of a pro team was awesome. It was by far one of the happiest days of my life and it took a lot to leave the field, I could have stayed there all day. Not many kids can say they played ball on a professional field. It was one of the best experiences in my life and one of the most fun days I have had playing the game of baseball and to see the Blue team crush the Gray."
