Brent Hottman is my nephew and he plays for Sacramento State, where he's a freshman catcher. All season, he's been the #2 catcher behind a senior. While he's gotten quite a bit of playing time for a freshman, it's not as much as he or any freshman wishes they'd get. He knows he's paying his dues and is looking forward to the summer when he'll be playing in the Northwoods Leauge, for the LaCrosse Loggers.
Anyway, today Sac State was hosting Fresno State in the final Western Athletic Conference series of the year for both teams. Sac State started the senior catcher, but in the 8th inning they pinch hit for him, so Brent was going to come in as a defensive replacement in the 9th. Brent's father had just left, so I called him but he was headed to a meeting and he couldn't come back. It didn't seem like a big deal since Sac State went to the bottom of the ninth losing 8-3.
But then the Hornets mounted a two out rally, and when Brent's turn to bat came up, the Hornets were now losing 8-5, with the bases loaded and two outs. I called his dad to tell him that Fresno State was bringing in a reliever to face his son, and said "oh yeah by the way, the bases are loaded with two outs and we're down by three." His dad pondered that for a moment and said "Brent represnts the winning run, doesn't he?" I told him that yes, if he hits his first collegiate home run, it'll be a walk off grand slam. His dad said, "Oh, that won't happen. Call me back after the game to let me know how he did." And he hung up.
Well, Brent's at-bat started 1-0, then 1-1, next pitch he hits a pop foul over toward Fresno State's dugout that the first baseman just couldn't quite reach over the rail to pull back. Whew, that would have ended the game, but he's got new Life. Next pitch is in the dirt for a 2-2 count. Now picture this, there is a 6 story high parking garage behind the left field fence, which is 375 in the alley. The very next pitch, Brent gets a belt high fastball on the inner part of the plate and crushes a towering fly ball to left. We're all holding our breath, hoping the left fielder won't catch it, but when we look at him, he's just standing there looking up. The ball hits the parking garage 3 stories up, and the whole place goes nuts. WALK OFF GRAND SLAM, HORNETS WIN 9-8! Brent Hottman's first collegiate home run!
I call his dad, and when he answered I just held the phone out for a moment. When I put the phone back to my ear, he asked "What the heck is all the noise going on?" I told him "Your son is being mobbed by the whole team at home plate, he just hit a walk off Grand Slam to win the game!" He didn't believe me, so I gave the phone to another player's mom who was standing next to me and asked her to tell the man on the phone what just happened. She said, 'I don't know who this is, but our freshman catcher just hit a Grand Slam to win the game!'
I won't tell you what his dad's response was about missing the biggest highlight so far of his son's entire baseball career.....
for not being there, if you know what I mean. 