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Rome Braves come back to win season opener

By Stephanie McCombs
[email protected]
Staff Writer

Even minor league players wish for a ball signed by the Phil Niekro. Budweiser stand, the smell of hotdogs, popcorn and pretzels. Kids asking for autographs, a nicely cut field, mascots Romey and Roxie and a mixture of music being played. Give-a-ways of free bar-b-que and Applebee�s gift certificates just to name a few. Cars being displayed and a live band outside the stadium. All this is what you can expect to see, as well as hear, when you attend a Rome Braves game.

�Glad to be back. We�re ready for this,� one fan exclaims, and another says, �I�m so excited I can hardly stand it!� The atmosphere alone explains itself. Just being in the stadium gets you fired up and ready for the game.

With the 4,335 fans in attendance at the April 6 Season Opener, National Baseball Hall of Famer Phil Niekro threw out the first ceremonial pitch. After Neikro�s pitch, the evening�s game was underway.

With a man on base, a nice hit to right field put the defending team, the Kannapolis Intimidators, on the board first, making the score 1-0. At the top of the third Brandon Allen, Intimidators, hit a homerun and put them up 3-0. At the end of the third the Braves had made two runs, making the score 3-2.

(Left) Elvis Andrus stands ready and vigilant, waiting for the pitch. By the end of the sixth the score was 4-2, Intimidators still leading the way. But that was just part of the Braves game plan. With the Brave�s having the last chance at bat, they showed up and showed out, winning the game in the last inning, 5-6. What a great comeback.

Commenting on the team�s opening game performance, Quentin Davis, Rome Braves outfielder, said, �It�s just setting the tone for the season. We�re not going to die. We�re gonna keep rolling and do what we got to do.�

Davis said, �I had no doubt about it. We were going to win. I mean, this team is a pretty tight team. Most of us have been together since last year and have had a couple of spring trainings together. So nobody let anybody down. Everybody just kept everybody up so we just kind of knew we were going to win.�