Second annual alumni game a blast from the past

Dick Phillips, an Aurora City Council member, made his way out to the mound and tossed a clean fastball to the plate in front of a cheerful crowd at Mitchell Field. 
Wait, what?
No, this isn’t a throwback article. Phillips, an Aurora legion baseball player himself in the mid-1960s, was invited to be part of the second annual Aurora alumni baseball game Saturday afternoon as a group of former players dusted off the cleats and gloves for a friendly game against the current Aurora Post 42 Pinnacle Bank Seniors squad. 
Phillips took plenty of warm-up throws for probably 15 minutes before taking the mound for the ceremonial first pitch before turning the field over to the rest of the guys with “a bit more life on the treads.”
It’s a game Aurora coach Jeremy Burgener looks forward to all year long, even an opportunity himself to dust off the glove and have some fun. 
“We filled the stands today and had a ton of support,” Coach B said. “I hope it’s something we can keep going.”
In an effort to save the arms of his own players, Coach B and assistant coach Tanner Griffith tossed a total of four combined innings to the alumni team. 
The results were a bit mixed. 
Coach B started the game on the mound and four-pitched walked Bryan Arndt. Not ideal.
Cy Bullerman and Jake Kittle followed with hits as the first run for the alumni squad came around to plate. 
In all, the alumni team scored three runs in the first inning, showing little to no rust in the batter’s box. 
What about the field, though?
Ben Peard took the mound and was throwing absolute rockets. The alumni team mixed in Brodi Hansen on the mound in the second, a south paw to give a change of direction and a couple strikeouts. 
After a couple innings from Coach B, first-year coach Tanner Griffith came on to pitch against some of his old teammates, which everyone had some fun with. 
Coach B even joked that the brunt of the loss for the Seniors falls onto the two coaches as they allowed most of the runs on the mound. 
It’s okay, though. Coach B gave fans something to talk about, flashing the leather on a ball hit right back to his face off the bat of Ryan Marlatt, the same guy who was notorious for being hit by pitches throughout his time playing legion baseball.
“It was a ton of fun. I had a big adrenaline dump in the first inning,” Burgener said, laughing. “It’s nice to see our players actually listen to us when we’re coaching because I got eaten up with everything I’ve said to them out of the dugout the last two months.”
Griffith took the mound hot, striking out his first two batters and looked to have control over his fellow alumni. 
Eventually, the alumni team pulled out to a 6-0 lead in the fifth as the Pinnacle Bank Seniors team shifted to using some actual players’ arms on the mound. 
It was then, too, that talk began to shift in the alumni dugout. 
There were some murmurs from several players of “that’s about it,” regarding what was left in the tank. 
Can anyone make a quick IcyHot run?
Pain relief was certainly necessary in the sixth with a pair of car crashes in the field of play, nearly simultaneously. 
Nate Parker, sporting one of the best mustaches I’ve ever seen, came barreling across the plate for a run with Dylan Dubas left standing in the way. 
Parker was safe and the play shifted to Dubas’ older brother, Tyler, who made hard contact with Pinnacle Bank Seniors third baseman Connor Smith. 
Everyone came out of the sequence unscathed but again, where’s that IcyHot?
The Pinnacle Bank Seniors dugout came to life in the sixth as Devin Otto knocked a moon shot that nearly found its way to the interstate but somehow stayed in play, bouncing off the left field wall. 
That made the score 8-1 and it looked like the Seniors may go on a run, but it fizzled from there. 
Despite that, though, Coach B was pleased with how the Seniors played throughout the game, noting the feeling in the dugout was the game much closer than the actual score. 
“We had fun today and that’s what we need to get back to,” Burgener said. “No matter what the score is, we just have to play hard and have fun.”
Things took a different turn when the younger Dubas entered the game on the mound for the Seniors. 
All of a sudden, it somehow became older brother Dubas’ turn at the plate as the alumni made a “quick shift” to its lineup. 
The younger brother on the mound made some conservative choices, not giving older bro an opportunity to swing away. 
Walk. 
Fast forward to the ninth, older brother Dubas took the mound to take a shot at younger bro. 
Walk. 
Jake Kittle, who looked like someone who could still play legitimate baseball right now, put it best when he came back into the dugout. 
“I didn’t come here to walk.”
Amen. 
A year ago, the Seniors team entered the alumni game on a bit of a skid, looking and more importantly, needing some momentum. 
Despite losing that game a year ago, the Pinnacle Bank Seniors responded with a real solid last quarter of the season. Burgener is hopeful for a similar turnaround this year.
“This is nice because it kind of breaks our season up right before districts and gives us a new perspective,” Burgener said. “Our Seniors played well today. The alumni guys are good. We battled hard and hit the ball.”
It may have worked as the Pinnacle Bank Seniors were back on the field Sunday against Doniphan-Trumbull, winning 17-10 as Dubas went five-for-six at the dish. 
It sounds unbelievable, but I checked twice. It’s as real as a Dick Phillips fastball. 
RICHARD RHODEN can be reached at sports@hamilton.net.