By: Joey Maiullari (Jr.Camp counselor)
On a warm, sunny day in South Boston, the campers at the local Tynan Fun in the Sun program used the heat to their own advantage. They originally planned to play a quick four –on-four game, but once one of them realized they had a rope in their backpack, they thought it would be a great way to make a field. On the side of the Tynan, across from the Gate of Heaven church, the campers began to think of ideas to perfect their new ballpark. Across the whole concrete field, ropes outlined the foul poles, along with the fences for homeruns. In addition to that, there were ropes that represented the audience in different parts of the ballpark. On the third base line, there was a V.I.P. section where the senior camp personnel got to sit. Behind home plate were general admission seats for other jr counselors and campers. After the whole stadium was set up with a bullpen and bleachers, it was time to finally hear the words we all love to hear, “Play ball!”
At 1:05pm with all campers from the program in attendance and in their seats patiently waiting, camp director Chris Devine threw out the first pitch to Stephen Flynn, a perfect strike, down the middle of the plate. Stephen Flynn and Evan O’Connor were the two team captains. Evan represented the Chicago Cubs, while Stephen picked the Red Sox as his team. Each team consisted of four players with two counselors on each. The starting pitcher for the Red sox was Stephen Flynn. With an infield consisting of counselor Aaron Mulligan, Jonathan Walsh, Robert Wisniewski and Bobby Rehm. Flynn sure had some defensive talent behind him. The wiffle ball game began with a single by Evan O’Connor, right up the middle. Batting second, Tynan camp counselor Joey Maiullari, stepped up to the plate. With the spotlight on him and everyone in the crowd watching, Joey used the first pitch to drive deep and way back into center field for a two-run homer. The first inning was owned by the Cubs who were sparked by a long, two run homerun.
The Cubs consisted of two counselors, Joey Maiullari and James Arlauskas, and three kids, Evan O’Connor, Ryan MacDonald, Alec Burkett and Anderson Wisniewski. After one inning, the Cubs were winning 2-0, as Ryan Macdonald pitched a stellar shutout inning. In the top of the second with no one on, two outs, Joey stepped up to the plate. On the first pitch, he cranked another home run, just over the rope in left field. Cubs were winning 3-0 in the second inning when counselor Jonathan Walsh stepped up to the plate. With everyone on base and three balls as the count, there was nowhere to put Walsh. This was the best chance for the Sox to come back as they had bases loaded. Walsh stepped and cranked a hard groundball down the third base line for a bases clearing double to tie the game at 3. Going into the third inning, Evan O’Connor led off with a solo homerun to deep centerfield. After going through the whole order once, counselor James Arlauskas came up to bat with two men on base. Before everyone knew it, James hit a high-flying deep ball into the bleachers in the outfield. The Cubs were up 8-3, heading into the fourth and final inning. The Cubs looked to be in full control after another homerun by Joey Maiullari, who finished the game with 4 runs batted in. Then, in the bottom of the fourth inning, down 5 runs, the Red Sox needed a heroic comeback. With Bobby Rehm and Stephen Flynn on base, Jonathan Walsh stepped up to the plate. After two pitches, Walsh found one he liked, which he drove all the way back to the concrete behind the fence in left field for a three run homerun. Flynn sprinted around the bases to score another run. Walsh cut the deficit to two. With Robert Wisniewski and counselor Jack Feeney on base, Stephen Flynn doubled to drive in another run. Walsh once again came up to the plate to slug a hard hit single to win the game in heroic fashion. Red Sox topped the Chicago Cubs in four innings 9-8. Walsh finished the game with 3 homeruns and 7 RBIs. Arlauskas cracked 2 homeruns with 4 RBIs. Maiullari smacked 3 homeruns and batted in 4 RBIs.
As a Tynan camp counselor, I would like to thank John Lydon and also a special thanks to the Tynan Council for the chance to share these great memories with the campers. This wiffle ball game was really a highlight of my summer and I would like to thank everyone who participated and watched. As we approach the final few weeks of the program, I hope to see more fun games like this to keep everyone entertained. Lastly, I would love to give a special shoutout to our camper of the week, Alex!
