Apalachee High School has been on the mend since the tragic September attack that claimed the lives of four people, two teachers, including defensive coordinator Richard Aspinwall, and two students.
They’ve been given bountiful opportunities for community connection and healing in the last seven months, feeling the love from every corner of the Peach State.
The football and flag football teams got the chance to attend a Falcons game at Mercedes Benz Stadium and meet Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, who attended the Wildcats first football game back on their home field in October.
The marching band got a chance to visit Marvel Studios, baseball coach Kyle Bailey said, and the girls basketball team took a trip to both Georgia and Georgia Tech‘s women’s basketball facilities.
This spring, Bailey’s team got their gift: a regular, non-region game at Truist Park, home of the Braves. It started with a visit from Atlanta pitcher Spencer Strider.
Braves’ pitcher Spencer Strider reached out to Apalachee baseball after attack
Bailey remembers his phone ringing, remembers answering it to members of the Braves organization on the other end. Strider and his wife, Maggie, and a couple other people from the major league team were going to come out to Apalachee and give the teachers lunch.
Bailey, being the baseball coach and all, got a little bit of one-on-one time with the 2023 MLB All-Star after it was all said and done. Together they hung out for about two hours, touring the Apalachee facilities and discussing the weird, small-world connection they apparently share.
“He does a lot of things with foster care children,” Bailey explained. “One of my best friends foster kids is a child who won one of (Strider’s) little giveaways. Spencer and his wife both remembered my friend, his wife and the child they brought to the Braves stadium in September. It was a cool moment for us.”
Strider had asked Bailey if there was anything they needed at the time, and Bailey proposed the idea of the boys simply meeting Strider while he was visiting the Winder-area school. The professional season had just ended, however, and Strider had something else in mind, countering with: what about playing a game?
How did Apalachee baseball get to play at Truist Park?
The Braves have a fundraising system where high schools in Georgia can sell Braves tickets for a chance to play at Truist Park, which Apalachee took advantage of in 2022 before Kyle Bailey replaced his brother Allan Bailey, who is now over at Jefferson softball, as the head coach.
The game against Jackson County in 2022 game was different though. Big things were on the line, like a playoff berth.
But on April 11, when Strider pulled strings for Bailey’s boys this time around and the Wildcats took to the field against Whitefield Academy half a day after the Braves had just finished a series against the Phillies, it was all for fun. No pressure, no worrying about the score — Apalachee ended up losing 4-2.
“The focus was taking in the moment,” Bailey said. “Just enjoy it and realize this is a core memory for a baseball player, a dream come true, right? … I’m really excited that it’s something they’ll be able to look back on forever and tell their kids, tell their grandkids. … It’s my goal as a head coach to be able to give them the best opportunities possible, and to help them realize their (potential).”
Story continues below.
Apalachee baseball’s experience playing at Truist Park
Twenty-three of the 24 varsity players got to settle their feet into the dirt, got to run the bases, got to see the Opening Day field paint still stained in the turf in between home plate and the pitcher’s mound.
The team met at the school before hitting the road. It was spring break in the Athens area when they hopped aboard a bus and trekked downtown, stopping for Firehouse subs on the way. It was still a relatively normal gameday experience for the boys, the venue was just different, Bailey said with a laugh.
“My time there was something I’ll never forget,” senior infielder Cole Cash said. “Personally, when we walked out on the field, I felt like a little kid. My freshman year, we went there but I wasn’t a player yet, so I got to take it in a little bit. Getting to step out onto the field and play, there’s something about that. It honestly might be the best experience of my life. You step out there and you thought you knew what it was going to feel like, but it’s 100 times greater than you could have ever imagined.”
Cash said they got to hear their names called out over the public address, and hearing the families in the background, his family hooting and hollering, made it even more special. Junior first baseman Russell Malcom called it a surreal experience while senior shortstop Hudson Mashburn echoed Bailey and said it was a dream come true.
“Every kid dreams about playing on their team’s major league field,” said Mashburn, a lifelong Braves fan. “I felt like I was actually a part of the Braves, but it was also kind of weird because you never thought you’d be there.”
No. 4-seed Apalachee will play a doubleheader against 1-seed Houston County in the first round of the GHSA state tournament on Wednesday, April 23. Game one is set for 4:30 p.m., with game two at 7 p.m. The tiebreaker (if necessary) game is set for Thursday, April 24 at 5 p.m.
The Wildcats finished the regular season 9-18 overall and 6-7 in 5A-Region 8.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Apalachee baseball ended spring break by playing a game at Truist Park
Apalachee High School has been on the mend since the tragic September attack that claimed the lives of four people, two teachers, including defensive coordinator Richard Aspinwall, and two students.
They’ve been given bountiful opportunities for community connection and healing in the last seven months, feeling the love from every corner of the Peach State.
The football and flag football teams got the chance to attend a Falcons game at Mercedes Benz Stadium and meet Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, who attended the Wildcats first football game back on their home field in October.
The marching band got a chance to visit Marvel Studios, baseball coach Kyle Bailey said, and the girls basketball team took a trip to both Georgia and Georgia Tech‘s women’s basketball facilities.
This spring, Bailey’s team got their gift: a regular, non-region game at Truist Park, home of the Braves. It started with a visit from Atlanta pitcher Spencer Strider.
Braves’ pitcher Spencer Strider reached out to Apalachee baseball after attack
Bailey remembers his phone ringing, remembers answering it to members of the Braves organization on the other end. Strider and his wife, Maggie, and a couple other people from the major league team were going to come out to Apalachee and give the teachers lunch.
Bailey, being the baseball coach and all, got a little bit of one-on-one time with the 2023 MLB All-Star after it was all said and done. Together they hung out for about two hours, touring the Apalachee facilities and discussing the weird, small-world connection they apparently share.
“He does a lot of things with foster care children,” Bailey explained. “One of my best friends foster kids is a child who won one of (Strider’s) little giveaways. Spencer and his wife both remembered my friend, his wife and the child they brought to the Braves stadium in September. It was a cool moment for us.”
Strider had asked Bailey if there was anything they needed at the time, and Bailey proposed the idea of the boys simply meeting Strider while he was visiting the Winder-area school. The professional season had just ended, however, and Strider had something else in mind, countering with: what about playing a game?
How did Apalachee baseball get to play at Truist Park?
The Braves have a fundraising system where high schools in Georgia can sell Braves tickets for a chance to play at Truist Park, which Apalachee took advantage of in 2022 before Kyle Bailey replaced his brother Allan Bailey, who is now over at Jefferson softball, as the head coach.
The game against Jackson County in 2022 game was different though. Big things were on the line, like a playoff berth.
But on April 11, when Strider pulled strings for Bailey’s boys this time around and the Wildcats took to the field against Whitefield Academy half a day after the Braves had just finished a series against the Phillies, it was all for fun. No pressure, no worrying about the score — Apalachee ended up losing 4-2.
“The focus was taking in the moment,” Bailey said. “Just enjoy it and realize this is a core memory for a baseball player, a dream come true, right? … I’m really excited that it’s something they’ll be able to look back on forever and tell their kids, tell their grandkids. … It’s my goal as a head coach to be able to give them the best opportunities possible, and to help them realize their (potential).”
Story continues below.
Apalachee baseball’s experience playing at Truist Park
Twenty-three of the 24 varsity players got to settle their feet into the dirt, got to run the bases, got to see the Opening Day field paint still stained in the turf in between home plate and the pitcher’s mound.
The team met at the school before hitting the road. It was spring break in the Athens area when they hopped aboard a bus and trekked downtown, stopping for Firehouse subs on the way. It was still a relatively normal gameday experience for the boys, the venue was just different, Bailey said with a laugh.
“My time there was something I’ll never forget,” senior infielder Cole Cash said. “Personally, when we walked out on the field, I felt like a little kid. My freshman year, we went there but I wasn’t a player yet, so I got to take it in a little bit. Getting to step out onto the field and play, there’s something about that. It honestly might be the best experience of my life. You step out there and you thought you knew what it was going to feel like, but it’s 100 times greater than you could have ever imagined.”
Cash said they got to hear their names called out over the public address, and hearing the families in the background, his family hooting and hollering, made it even more special. Junior first baseman Russell Malcom called it a surreal experience while senior shortstop Hudson Mashburn echoed Bailey and said it was a dream come true.
“Every kid dreams about playing on their team’s major league field,” said Mashburn, a lifelong Braves fan. “I felt like I was actually a part of the Braves, but it was also kind of weird because you never thought you’d be there.”
No. 4-seed Apalachee will play a doubleheader against 1-seed Houston County in the first round of the GHSA state tournament on Wednesday, April 23. Game one is set for 4:30 p.m., with game two at 7 p.m. The tiebreaker (if necessary) game is set for Thursday, April 24 at 5 p.m.
The Wildcats finished the regular season 9-18 overall and 6-7 in 5A-Region 8.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Apalachee baseball ended spring break by playing a game at Truist Park
