Slider, Sports

NECC students enjoy night out at Woo Sox

 
A baseball pitcher throws the ball to the batter
C.J. Stubbs of the Rochester Red Wings swings at pitch. Photo by John Mulcahy

NECC students enjoyed a night out in Worcester this September to watch the Woo Sox take on the Red Wings. 

As a part of fan appreciation week the Woo Sox hosted a unique event at their home stadium POLAR park. All NECC students, faculty and their families were welcomed to join in on the fun free of charge. 

The Massachusetts Community colleges were represented in force on Sept. 18, and NECC was there to show their spirit. They may not have been the biggest or the loudest but there was no shortage of enthusiasm. Shouts of “N E C C” rang out among the crowd of students all showing pride for their schools. 

 The colleges were invited to do an on field walk on as well as participate in raffles and other fun events. This was all included with the baseball game where students would watch the Worcester Red Sox (The Boston Red Sox minor league affiliate) host the Rocester Red Wings (The Washington Nationals Minor league affiliate). 

This type of event can be a great way for students to get involved, especially for the social person. “I’m definitely enjoying myself”. Andrea Wall-Sanchez said. She’s at her first game and first major campus event. Assistant director of NECC’s SOAR program (seize opportunities aspire to rise) Martha Mazelika, is a self-proclaimed fair-weather fan, but loves going to watch the Woo Sox play live. “I love being involved in campus life. The students make it worth coming to work”. 

NECC provides many ways for students to get involved, but it’s a rather rare opportunity to have the type of night these students did. “It’s a unique event.” Brayden Toth said. “I would do it again” 

Game summary:

The Woo Sox showed promise in the first inning with some offense present, but would start to slip. Down 2 to 1 at the beginning of the third there was still plenty of time to start a comeback. Unfortunately for Worcester and their fans as the night continued so did the struggles for the home team, going down 6 to 1 by the middle of the 7th inning. The Woo Sox misfortunes weren’t due to a lack of offense, having 10 hits on the night, but a failure to seize their opportunities. With multiple cases of runners in scoring position, Worcester couldn’t pull through. Ending the night with a total of 9 runners left on base. Ultimately falling very short with the final score being 10 to 1 in favor of Rocester.