Your regular news and notes section is on temporary hiatus as Andy Finch and I continue what has been a fun, though not always annual, baseball adventure weekend.

This year, we open in Bowling Green, KY before moving to Peoria, IL and then Memphis, TN.

So, tonight we saw a great game between the Bowling Green Hot Rods and the Charleston RiverDogs, a Class A farm team for the Yankees playing in the South Atlantic League.  Rays prospect Tim Beckham signed Andy’s scorebook (the first autograph collected in the 19 years we have been doing this) – and then proceeded to make a game saving throw to gun down a runner at the plate, and also collect the game-winning hit in the eleventh inning.  Beckham’s single scored Anthony Scelfo with the winning run. 

Scelfo himself had made two highlight reel catches.  His first came in the fourth inning when he ran and leaped into the wall in right centerfield to take away a double (or more) from Tommy Baldridge.  Then, in the eleventh inning, Scelfo added a 9.7 bellyflop and a 3.2 difficulty dive to rob Manny Abieta of a single.

Beckham seems like a cool kid.  He messed around with some of the little leaguers on the field before the game, signed autographs, plays loose and free, and looks like he is having a great time out there.  He can play a little, too – a cannon for an arm, some decent range, and looks like a young Hanley Ramirez.

News and Notes will start again on Tuesday.  Until then, the highlights will be of our trip.