Tiger Athletic Missions Experience Blog
Day 7 Blog
Saturday, December 16, 2017

Ryan Erwin
Vice President for Athletics

The final day of the ETBU Baseball Team's TAME trip in the Dominican Republic began Saturday morning with a baseball clinic with over 100 children in Gautier, the village where the team painted homes on Monday. The Tigers ran the clinic similar to the one earlier in the week, which included offensive and defensive drills, and a Gospel presentation. At the conclusion of the camp, Assistant Coach Tanner Matthews shared a brief testimony with the group and presented each camper with a baseball.  

The Tigers returned to the hotel for lunch and a little down time before traveling to San Pedro on Saturday night to watch Estrellas Orientales against Licey Tigres in Dominican Winter League action. The players were able to experience a true Dominican baseball game atmosphere that consisted of an energetic and rowdy crowd with all types of cheers and noise makers that included cowbells, drums, and thunder sticks. 

"The day started off with our second baseball clinic of the trip. There was about 100 kids that showed up to participate in our drills that we do at our practices. During our trip, we have seen at least 500 kids play baseball and I have not met one that did not want to be out there. They were there before we arrived and stayed after we left. The drive and passion these kids have for baseball is incredible," Zack Pierce of Lufkin said. 

"After the baseball clinic we had a little free time and it was nice to have some free time where we could bond, laugh, and have fun. We ended the day with a Winter League game. Just like the players have passion and love for the game, the fans match the same intensity. It was like being at an MLB game because of how loud the fans were the whole game. I can speak for the whole team and say that this trip was an incredible and humbling experience and that we would come back in a heart beat," Pierce added. 

"Putting on the second clinic for the kids today was just amazing as the first clinic. All the kids that came, had big smiles right when we showed up to the field. Even with the language barrier that we had, we could communicate enough to where they could understand what we were trying to teach them and I think that's the coolest thing. I cannot think of a better way to end the week by being with the kids and having a great time. Honestly, they have no idea that they had a bigger impact on our lives, then we did in theirs. This week has been an amazing experience," Chad Boudreaux of Houston.

Sunday morning will be an early wakeup call for ETBU, as the group heads to the airport at 5:00 AM to begin our travels back to Texas. 

Thank you for your prayers for the ETBU Baseball Team throughout this TAME trip.  Your support both financially and prayerfully was felt by everyone involved and made it possible to grant our Tiger student athletes the opportunity to share the love of Christ through the platform of sports.  

GO TIGERS!