Corvallis Road Trip

By: Mason Robinson
Voice of the Sweets

With as well as this Sweets team has been playing lately, two straight losses just feels... Weird. This ball club bounces back after a loss pretty well, so tonight's 9-6 defeat left me personally a little deflated.

As I set up my broadcast equipment before the game Friday, I realized that the sting of defeat has been so spread out this year, it's like we (read: Sweets fans) don't know what losing is like. And that is AWESOME. It gives this club so much positive self-identity to see itself as winners (or as Scott Silva calls it: "legit"). The last three times Walla Walla has lost a game before Thursday's opening defeat, the Sweets came right back to win three straight. So hopefully Saturday will see the club back in the win column before we pack the bus for home.

As for the city of Corvallis, OR, itself -- it's nice. I wandered down the street from the hotel to a Mexican restaurant at lunchtime (as a Texan, who has thoroughly enjoyed a variety of quality Mexican foods, you know I had to see what this place had to offer). Alas, they are closed on Fridays. Weird, right? I know.

So I ordered a sandwich. Boring, right?

Pitching coach Mark Michaud has been eager to do battle on his new travel-sized chess set, so he and Assistant Coach Rob Holtzinger found time to enjoy a game of chess down by the river that flows next to the hotel. Michaud was proud of his two victories over "Holtzie." I'm happy for him too -- he had to redeem himself after I beat him (and Holtzinger) on the bus Thursday morning while we drove through northern Oregon.

The rest of the ball club has done its normal thing, splitting up to work out or find a spot to eat. I tagged along with Jonathan Harris tonight to find some food... But everything closes early around here, something we both found odd for a college town. (Mind you that early in this sense is 10:15 at night). So we found ourselves at McDonald's. Not our first choice, but we were too starved to wait around for a pizza.

It's been a pleasure meeting a good number of the Sweets' family members up in Corvallis as well. Kramer Lindell's parents, Jarod Gonzales's dad, and Mike Paulson's granddad, all came by the booth to say hello, and shake my hand.

And now it's time for my eyelids to shake hands with each other as well. As players often say: the great thing about baseball is getting to come back to the park the next day and try it again. Hope you'll join me to see how it turns out tomorrow. Until then -- so long for now!