Sophomore left handed pitcher Ryan Kellogg pitches the ball during a match against the ASU alumni team at Packard Stadium on Saturday, Feb.8. (Photo by Diana Lustig) It was the last alumni game at Packard Stadium and it was not only about the Sun Devil family, but relatives as well. The current squad pulled out an 11-5 win, but it was a day to remember for the Graybill and Torrez families.
In the first inning, sophomore first baseman David Graybill came to bat against Trevor Williams. The alumni team pulled Williams to bring in Graybill’s father, Dave Graybill, to pitch.
“I wasn’t expecting that at all, so I was kind of unprepared,” the younger Graybill said. “I didn’t think he still had it in him.”
On the fourth pitch of the at-bat, the senior Graybill hit his son with the pitch.
“He told me he was going to, but I didn't think he was going to and he ended up doing it,” the younger Graybill said.
The current Sun Devil continued what was a memorable afternoon for him, homering in the third inning just inside the left-field foul pole.
He hit it off Matt Dunbar, with whom he played last season. Graybill said he had faced Dunbar nine times before and never gotten a hit.
“It felt kind of good to finally get a hit off of him,” Graybill said.
The Graybills weren’t the only family members to meet.
Redshirt freshman infielder Emilio Torrez stepped up to the plate against his brother Raoul as well. This family meeting wasn’t quite as climactic: Raoul walked Emilio on four pitches.
Coach Tim Esmay said he was pleased that the families got to play against each other.
“That’s what the alumni thing is all about,” Esmay said. “We’ve got a legacy here with some guys, so we always try and get that set up.”
Freshmen combined to knock in seven of the current Sun Devils’ 11 runs on the afternoon. Rocky Laguna provided the firepower for the alumni, blasting a two-run home run over the right field wall in the fifth.
The starting pitcher for the former Sun Devils was Trevor Williams, who was drafted in the second round last year by the Miami Marlins. Opposing him for the 2014 Sun Devils was sophomore left-hander Ryan Kellogg.
Kellogg pitched four innings of two-run ball, allowing five hits.
Esmay said it was it was a bittersweet day considering ASU baseball’s move to Phoenix Municipal Stadium next season and that Saturday was the final alumni game at Packard.
“It was kind of surreal a little bit, knowing that next year we’ll be playing at Muni,” Esmay said. “It’s the last game at Packard and I thought we played well.”
Reach the reporter at justin.emerson@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @J15Emerson.
