Greenville University Men’s Basketball team was scheduled to play Spalding University on February 27th, but their plans their plans took an unusual turn. Upon arriving in Louisville, Dr. George Barber received a call that the game was canceled due to one of Spalding’s players contracting COVID-19. This was a big blow for the team because they were looking forward to advancing their record to 2-0 after defeating defending SLIAC champions Webster University. After receiving the call Dr. Barber had to act fast to figure out a new plan for the men’s team because the women’s and men’s teams had traveled to Louisville together. While the women were getting ready to play, Dr. Barber decided to take the team to the Louisville Slugger Museum.
This was a great opportunity for the team to bond and get ready for their upcoming games in the SLIAC. Cameron Nabers said, “it sucked that we couldn’t play because of how hard we practiced but the museum was a good way for the team to bond.” The team went on an all-inclusive tour where they learned how baseball bats are made along with the history of the famous “Louisville Slugger”. One fun fact the team discovered was that all Louisville Slugger bats are created there and shipped to all MLB teams. After the men’s basketball team discovered how the bats were made, they were able to take a look at the museum’s life-size statues of famous MLB pro players. These players included; Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, and many more. The Men’s Basketball team throughly enjoyed their experience inside of the museum. One of the members of the team Isiah Dortch said “seeing the history of the Negro League Baseball team was inspiring. It reminds me to keep going and playing the sport I love playing. The history inside the Louisville Slugger Museum is very important”.
Once they finished touring the museum the team had a few minutes to spare and decided to test their skills inside the batting cages. Only a handful of players participated in attempting to hit a baseball at 50 mph, which is a very hard thing to do for people who do not play baseball. However, this skill came easy for one player, Kendall Edmond who hit 8 out of 10 baseballs inside the batting cage. This was incredibly impressive, especially for a player whose dominant sport is basketball and makes you wonder if he should become a dual sport athlete here at Greenville University. After the tour, Dr. Barber bought around 40 mini slugger bats for both basketball teams. He had each player on the men’s team take a pink mini slugger baseball bat and give one to each player on the women’s team individually after their game. This was a nice gesture and showed that the men’s basketball team appreciates everything the women’s team does and how much they value their hard work. The men’s basketball team was able to reschedule their game against Spalding University on March 17th, and Greenville defeated Spalding by three points.
Media by Henry Johnson III.
