Brent Yarina, BTN.com Senior Editor, May 12, 2013
Zach Mezger is not your typical Indiana baseball fan. The Bloomington High School North student is known as the "No. 1 IU baseball fan," is a close friend with head coach Tracy Smith's family, and has delivered a couple postgame speeches. Sunday, he had the honor of throwing out the first pitch in the Hoosiers' inaugural home finale at Bart Kaufman Field.
And what a scene it was. Kneeling, Mezger, who has cerebral palsy, threw the pitch from about 30 feet. The toss was pretty good, too, as the southpaw sent a high heater to catcher and friend Casey Smith, the coach's son.
Mezger looked like a natural out there, from the way he gripped the ball behind his back to how he peered in to the catcher for the sign.
To the surprise of no one, the Indiana faithful loved the first pitch. So did the Hoosiers, who were standing and clapping the whole time and had fist bumps awaiting Mezger outside the dugout.
Like Jack Hoffman's touchdown run in last month's Nebraska spring game, this is the kind of thing that makes sports so great.
| About Brent Yarina | BTN.com web editor Brent Yarina covers football and men's basketball for BTN.com. He writes the popular uniform feature "Clothes Call," which also focuses on the latest cosmetic changes across Big Ten arenas and stadiums. Read all of his work here. You can subscribe to Yarina's RSS feed and follow him on Twitter @BTNBrentYarina. |
