By Trey Hunter
Sports Editor
It was a breath of fresh air Tuesday at Southern Nazarene University.
Baseball was played and on this day for more than just competition.
The Warriors, Washington High School and the Oklahoma City Ambassadors travel squad joined together for the game, fellowship and to honor fallen coach David Vallerand who spent time with all three programs.
Cole Cleveland of the Ambassadors got things started with a heartfelt speech about Vallerand and why the three teams were joining together for a three-game series in Vallerand’s name before praying over the players and coaches prior to the first game.
I’m sure the score was kept somewhere. Surely someone had a score book running, but the scoreboard at SNU was turned off as the two teams just played baseball. Of course, even though it’s still just the summer campaign, the two teams played the game hard and the way it’s meant to be played. Coaches still worked on things with players as they gear up for the rest of the season heading into the fall.
“I didn’t know him as well as everyone around Okarche,” Warrior coach Mark Framel said of his relationship with Vallerand, who helped start the Oklahoma City Ambassadors – a group dedicated to discipleship and baseball. “But when I was the SNU hitting coach and the Ambassadors used our field, we would sit and talk hitting for what seemed like days. I didn’t know him outside of baseball, but his legacy was well know and still goes on.”
The Ambassadors travel across the country for eight weeks during the summer before a final week spent on a mission trip each year.
The team has visited Mexico, Nicaragua and the Domincan Republic. Vallerand was a major part of the program as well as a head coach at Washington and Okarche over the span of 12 years. Vallerand passed away on Aug. 26, 2016.
High school baseball can be exhausting.
Especially for the smaller schools which play two seasons – the fall and spring. But for just one day in June – it wasn’t work.
It was fun and it was played for a good cause.
What the Warriors, Washington and the Ambassadors put together Tuesday should happen more often.
It was a pleasure to be a part of such a great event.
