The old ballpark song says, “Take me out to the ball game. Take me out with the crowd.” On June 14th, the Genesee Rapids hosted a huge crowd for their ball game with the Olean Oilers. Many of those in attendance were kids from local schools as the official count of kids at the game was an amazing 1,365!
Those kids played a major role in the Rapids 8-5 win. In the top of the 4th, the Rapids gave up 5 runs to the Oilers and entered the bottom of the 6th trailing 5-1. It was then that the kids took over and as the ballpark song mentions, they began to “root, root, root for the home team.” Their cheers of “Let’s Go Rapids!” began and got louder throughout the inning, reaching the point of yelling at the tops of their lungs. The Rapids players felt the energy from the crowd scoring 5 runs to take a 6-5 lead and never looked back.
Nicholas Zielomski had 3 hits and 3 RBIs including a key hit in the 6th inning with 2 outs to bring in 2 runs. “The kids had a HUGE impact on the game today. They were amazing and contributed a lot to the momentum swing in the game. As a team, we could see they were getting into their [Oilers players’] heads” said Zielomski after the game. Ozzie Rodriguez closed the door on the Oilers to pick up the save.
The day was extra special with all in attendance enjoying the visits from Buffalo Bills mascot, Billy Buffalo, and Buffalo Sabres mascot, Sabretooth. Kids’ Day at the Genesee Rapids is always one of the highlights of the season, but the 2019 version will be one that is remembered by fans, players, and everyone else who was there for a long time. Can’t wait to see what the 2020 Kids’ Day will do to top this year!
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