Vogelsong Finishes Strong, Beats Rockies

Ryan Vogelsong pitched the last game of his 2011 storybook comeback season Monday night by beating the Colorado Rockies 3-1 in front of a sold out stadium in San Francisco .

Vogelsong not only wanted to thank the home town fans for their support, but wanted to prove to himself and his distractors that this season was anything but a fluke.

Prove it he did.  The 34-year-old Octorara grad threw seven shutout innings, allowing just four hits and no walks while striking out four batters finishing with a 13-7 record for the year.

The performance capped what many are saying is the most remarkable comeback performance of the year. 

The money quote:

"I've kind of tried to play start to start throughout the whole season and tried not to dwell too much on the start before or everything else.  I had a little bit of time during the All-Star Game. I kind of kicked back for a couple days and could think about it. But once I get home and melt down a little bit from the season, there's going to be a lot of good thoughts. I'm probably going to realize how amazing it all is." 

 Read the entire story and watch a video of Ryan's performance on MLB's home page here.

Chili's Give Back to Octorara Baseball

This from Susan Murtagh on Facebook yesterday:

Come out and join the Octorara Baseball Teams at Chili's on Tuesday, October 11th. 

Lunch, Dinner or To Go! 

 

Bring the attached FLYER/Coupon and enjoy an evening out!

Updated - Ryan Vogelsong, In His Own Words

 

In this age of pampered professional athletes with zillion dollar contracts, its refreshing to listen to an athlete, especially one of our own, be so real.

Whether you go to church every week, twice a year at Christmas and Easter, or don't go at all, you'll be touched by this video of Octorara grad and San Francisco pitcher Ryan Vogelsong telling his story about getting cut by the Phillies last summer.

For the first time in his adult life he found himself sitting at home in the middle of the summer, 32 years old and seemingly at the end of his career.

Ryan was picked up a week later by the Anaheim Angels who sent him to Salt Lake City for the rest of the Summer.  Over the winter the a Giant scout saw him playing winter ball and invited him to their Spring training.

When one the Giant's starting pitchers got injured in April, Ryan was called up from the minors to fill in.  He pitched so well the Giants gave the right-hander a spot in their rotation and a chance to pitch every 5 days.

A 7-1 record led to Ryan being named to the National League All Star team in July.  While August was a tough month for Vogelsong and the Giants both, no one will ever be able to take away what has been as storybook 2011 season for Ryan and his family.

What you don't know is . . . well, I'll let Ryan tell his own story. He tells it so much better than I ever could.

Just to set the stage, the video was made after Saturday evening's game, a contest the Giants lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks, their division rivals.

Octorara High School Alumni Baseball Game

This from Octorara High School varsity basesbal coach George Hadfield:

There will be an Alumni Baseball Game at Octorara’s Homecoming on October 1, 2011 for all former Octorara High School baseball players and coaches.    

The game will be played at Sonny Skiles Varsity Baseball Field at 1 pm on Saturday, October 1, 2011 .    

It will be a good time just catching up with old teammates, talking, and playing once again on the baseball diamond.   

For more information go to our Facebook Page:  Octorara High School Baseball.