2063 Shark Bites TN No. 3 - People came to a baseball game

[thatboynicecoast]

Like, actually showed up. I wasn't aware that anyone outside Blacktown really knew we were here. That still may be the case.

The division-leading Johannesburg Gold rolled in for a Sunday series opener on July 15. Waiting for them was a season-high crowd of 26,050. To the best of my recollection, it was the best mid-season crowd of the last three years.

Every element was perfect. The evening skies were clear. The temps dipped into the low 70s and a gentle but consistent breeze flowed from center field through the backstop.

And runs were scored. Plenty of them. Each side plated two in the first. The Gold added two more in the third and Sydney responded with the same in the fourth. Back-to-back home runs from Roger Kidd and Jose Marquez in the fifth sent the crowd into a frenzy the likes I had not witnessed before.

And then the eighth inning came. Holding a precarious 8-6 lead in a game that seemed to teeter on its own whims, Blacktown's Fins went to work.

Wattas Hondo singled with one out and Greg Godwin followed with a ticket for two around the bags. Kidd and Marquez reached and the former later scored on a balk call. Bob McPherson walked and Ari Ernalia and Howard Walsh sent a run home each with base hits.

It was 13-6 and that's where the score rested.

Between the on-field staff and players, there were 22 unique nationalities represented in the Sydney White. Nearly 10 different languages are spoken in the multicultural hub of Blacktown. We all watched baseball.

The sydney sharks are 49-43.