Kids come out in force to root on AquaSox
Published 6:50 pm Wednesday, July 8, 2015
EVERETT — About 2,000 kids from 40 different summer camps, day cares and schools helped fill Everett Memorial Stadium for Kids Day on Wednesday afternoon to watch the AquaSox beat Hillsboro 4-3.
The special 11 a.m. game time allowed all those youngsters to fill 28 buses and vans that made their way to Everett for the game as part of an annual tradition of bringing kids to the ballpark. It will shift to a bi-annual tradition in 2015, with another Kids Day scheduled for July 28.
“We’re actually doing it twice this year, and it’s the first time we’re doing it twice. It was such a success last year that we were essentially sold out of all the upper box tickets and the general admission was really crammed,” AquaSox assistant general manager Katie Crawford said. “Since we decided to separate it into two different events, some organizations will be coming out to one or the other and some will come to both.”
Groups including the Everett-based Summer Adventures Day Camp, Snohomish County’s YMCA Summer Discovery Camp, Bright Star Kids Academy in Lynnwood and Mill Creek and the Northshore YMCA cheered the AquaSox on Wednesday as the between-inning music leaned more toward the Spongebob Squarepants theme song than rock or country.
“I think it’s so important to build our fan base young and to have these kids get a chance to see AquaSox baseball,” Crawford said. “A lot of them may not have a chance to come with their families, and to be able to provide a fun field trip is really important to us.”
Gavin Clark from Summer Adventures Day Camp threw out the ceremonial first pitch, and groups of kids joined Everett’s defensive starters on the field for the national anthem and led the crowd in two choruses of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”.
AquaSox manager Rob Mummau said that his players enjoyed the fun atmosphere nearly as much as the kids.
“We were all a bunch of kids at one point and we can always relate to being here at that age,” Mummau said. “It was fun for the guys.”
Short hops
Everett’s Corey Simpson drove in three runs in each of the last two games of the series with Hillsboro, extending his league-leading total to 21. “I’m up there just looking for one pitch, and hitting it,” Simpson said. “I’ve been working on staying balanced through the hitting zone.”… Hillsboro first baseman and former UW and Shorewood High School star Trevor Mitsui hit an RBI single Wednesday, putting him at 6-for-16 with two homers, two doubles, five RBI and three runs scored in four games in front of the hometown fans.
