Video: Graduation after baseball game
The Red Hawks lost the game but you'd never know from their reaction. Beach balls at high school graduations is a regular thing. Baseball at graduation, not so much. And graduation at a baseball game? Never.
That is until last week at
Stewarts Creek (Smyrna, Tenn.) when the Red Hawks hosted a Region 4-AAA title game.
The 6:30 p.m. game coincided with the 7 p.m. school graduation, so officials arranged a special ceremony for the 11 senior players after the game.
The 6-0 loss to Blackman defeat didn't diminish the players' spirit. They reached the state tournament two days later with a 6-4 win over Ooltewah Falls. The Red Hawks (30-8) open the TSSAA tournament — known as the Spring Fling — Tuesday against Houston (Germantown).
Though perhaps more exciting, the state tourney can't possibly be as heart-warming as last week's graduation re-enactment.
According to this
terrific report by Cecil Joyce at dnj.com, the players and coaches re-lined the base paths after last week's loss and livened up home plate with flowers, a podium and speaker.
There were opening remarks, a prayer and speaker. The players stood between first and second and headed for third as their name was called before heading for home plate to receive their diplomas.
Senior Will Duffy told Joyce: "It was great being out here with our families and closest friends. The best part was definitely walking around the bases with our teammates, just a few feet apart."
