Community Feeling At The Rockville Express Opener But Where's The Lights

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Last Friday, June 4, 2010, the Rockville Express Collegiate Baseball team opened the 2010 season at their Montgomery College Rockville home field. My Cub Scout Pack 928 participated as the color guard.

Showing support for our community team, Rockville Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio threw out the first ball and Councilmember Mark Pierzchala also showed his support by attending. Mark and my Cub Scouts stayed for the whole game which went into extra innings.

During the first inning, the Southern Maryland Nationals scored one run. Their pitching was strong. The Rockville Express didn’t score until the 7th inning and as you can see, the run was close at home plate.

I can't believe I caught this shot!!

The 9th inning ended with a 1-1 tie after lots of action. Unfortunately, the Nationals quickly scored 4 runs and the Express was unable to come back during their last time at bat.

I heard more than one person agree that one of the Express hits was fair up the first bases line and not a foul, but as we saw on the professional level last week, the umpire call stands. The final score of 1-5 doesn’t indicate how close the game really was.

It's getting dark and there's no lights!

As you can see, the brand new lighting system is finally installed. Unfortunately the electricity has not been hooked up. If you check the schedule, there are no home field night games listed this summer and the latest they start is 5 PM. Unfortunately Pepco has not been able to dig the trenches and connect the new system. The 5 PM start time makes it difficult for fans and volunteers to arrive on time after work. Other teams are scheduled to instruct day camps so they’ve already had to start changing locations to accommodate the other team’s need for a later schedule. With the new lights waiting, the situation is frustrating for everyone involved. The Express website explains:

Rockville Community Baseball and the Rockville Express have made lots of progress in their major capital campaign for the installation of ball field lights at their home field at Montgomery College Rockville (Knight’s Field). The lighting equipment is up, but we still need your help to light them up! Please send your generous donation, made out to “Rockville Community Baseball, Inc.” and mail to “RCB Inc., P.O. Box 10188, Rockville, MD 20849″. Help make this important community project a reality!

The lights are a gift from Rockville Community Baseball to Montgomery College and will be used by many over the years. The partnership with the Cal Ripken Collegiate League benefits many.

If you would like to show your support, make a donation and attend a game. The schedule is here. Even after only one game, I’m already familiar with the players and certainly hope they have a great season.

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