Final games in Lithuania

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On Saturday we drove to Vilnius to match up against Vikingas. We were missing four of our starters; I was most worried about Mantas because it meant that we had no catcher, and old Marius (35 year old) had to do it.
The Ukrainian pitcher was pitching for Vikingas, and it was a close game. We lost 5-3, though four of the Vikingas runs were unearned. And there’re was one brutal out call at the plate where our guy was clearly safe, ending a potential rally. In arguing over the call, Marius (the player called out) called the umpire a series of dirty names (all in Russian) and was tossed from the game. Which meant that he would have to sit out the next days’ game, in which he was supposed to be our starting pitcher (and our only pitcher). So here we were, already down 1-0 in the two game series, and without a pitcher for the next game.
The following day we start Drogas on the mound. He actually pitched well for three innings but that’s all he could pitch. Then Audrius pitched, and he did ok. But we made errors and he lost his patience, pretty soon he couldn’t throw a strike. We were at one point winning 14-3, and now it was 14-13. Coach asked me if I could throw for the final three innings and I said sure. Why not--my pro career is over tomorrow.
We won by one run. Everyone was so excited….I think they were all sure we were going to lose.
After the game they presented me with a t-shirt, on the back it said “I’ll be back next year” and underneath it read ‘Will T. Gordon.’ On the front was a map of Europe with Lithuania highlighted in the colors of the Lithuanian Flag.
It was glorious. We celebrated with a case of beer, right on the field.

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Photos

Mantas, Magilas
catcher and third baseman

Andrius
16 year old catcher