News : Vinton boy comes from from MLB game with memories, souvenir

Kail Evans celebrates after receiving a baseball from Cardinals player Blake Hawksworth.

Vinton native Kelsey Geater and her boyfirend, Dustin McClure, went to a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game with Kelsey's nephews, Sonnie and Kail Evans, and their family.

Dustin shared the following story with a St. Louis Cardinal fan web site, and Kelsey's mom, Kelly, shared it with Vinton Today:

My girlfriend’s aunt and uncle had been discussing making the trip to St. Louis to visit us from out of state and bringing their kids (Sonnie 8, Kail Evans 5) so they could attend their first major league baseball game.

The time chosen to visit was in the middle of June when the Oakland A’s would be in town. We attended the Saturday night game which was the 2nd game of the series and featured Adam Wainwright on the mound. Our tickets were in the 5th row of the right field bleachers next to the Cardinal’s bullpen.

I’ve never seen as much joy in a 5-year-old's eyes as I did in Kail’s the first time we came to the top of the steps to our section and the Busch Stadium playing field was in his view. I tried not to steal too much thunder from his dad but I had such a great time explaining everything I could to Kail as the game progressed. Filling his head with way more information then he could handle I’m sure.

Going into the bottom half of the sixth Blake Hawksworth appeared from the Cardinal pen to warm up right fielder Ryan Ludwick. As Blake made his way back towards the pen he made eye contact with Kail’s Dad and pointed at Kail as he threw the ball. And with that young Kail took home a lifetime memory that he and his Dad can share for years to come. I was just glad to be a part of it.