By Mindy Holmes
Saturday, May 22, was just another day at Larry H. Miller Field, filled with rain, sunshine, wind, cheering and a two wins for the Cougar baseball team against rival Air Force.
But for eight BYU seniors, it would be the last time they played baseball at their BYU home.
“All I can say is right now I kind of have a feeling of nostalgia,” catcher Adam Wilkes said. “I”m really glad that we went out on top and that I had a good day [Saturday]. It”s just like when you finish something up and you know you”ve done it right, you just have a good overall feeling.”
They come from different backgrounds and they”re all doing something different after they graduate, but all the seniors agree that playing baseball at BYU has been one of the greatest experiences of their lives.
“It”s just been awesome,” said second baseman Wade Vest, a transfer student from UVSC. “It”s been two of the best years of my life.”
“I”ve really enjoyed myself here,” outfielder Kevin Bills said. “There”s been some ups and downs, but overall I don”t think I”d trade it for anything.”
One of the things that made their experiences so great is the relationships that they have with each other and their other teammates.
“Coming here as a freshmen, I automatically had 30 friends,” pitcher Paul Jacinto said. “I could relate with all of them, and we all had a common bond of baseball and we came together and we became really good friends.”
Third baseman Blair Lucas said: “I”ve had a great experience here. I”ve made a lot of friends here. We”re a pretty tight team, and I think that the best part about playing here is just the atmosphere.”
The atmosphere at BYU was a common theme with the seniors talking about their experiences. Wanting to be in that atmosphere was one of the major factors for many of the seniors when they decided to come to BYU.
Looking back, all of the seniors agreed that the decision to come to BYU was definitely a good one and they would recommend the experience to any baseball player looking to play in college.
“I host recruits all the time,” Jacinto said. “I always tell them that it”s one of the best experiences I”ve ever had. It”s such a great atmosphere, there are a lot of good guys on the team and the church has such a big influence. It discourages bad language. It discourages bad sportsmanship. It discourages all the things that can ruin a person.”
Although Saturday was their final home game, the seniors are not done with their season yet. When the season does end, however, there are some things that they will miss.
Lucas said he would miss “being around my friends everyday and being on the baseball field day in and day out.”
“I”ve been playing since I was six years old and it”s going to be tough to try and find something else to do in the middle of the afternoon,” he said.
Wilkes and Vest said they will also miss the team atmosphere.
“I”m really, really going to miss the comradery between teammates,” Wilkes said. “Of the four years I”ve been here, this team has been my number one most favorite team. It”s probably my favorite team that I”ve ever played on.”
“Just being with all the guys,” Vest said, “you have 30 best friends out there when you”re playing and that”s the thing I”m going to miss the most.”
Overall, the seniors were all thankful for their time here at BYU and learned some things about themselves that they will take with them, wherever they end up.
“I think in my experience, I had to learn a lot of patience, a lot of humility and discipline,” Bills said. “I think I go away a better person.”
