I have stated once or twice before on this blog and I will state it again. Timing is everything when it comes to experiences in life. Case in point, I had circled my potential first game of the season to be one of the three games in mid-February featuring William & Mary (Williamsburg, VA) vs. my (sort of) hometown team, the University of Rhode Island. I know a good number of players, their parents, and coaches on the URI baseball team, so it would have been a really cool experience to see them face off against William & Mary. However, weather was a big factor in reworking the series, which took place the week ending February 14th. The series featured a doubleheader Friday the 14th, no game on Saturday the 15th (my best chance at going) due to extremely poor playing conditions, and the series finale on Sunday the 16th, which I could not make due to travel plans to Dallas. I was unable to see any of the games in person, although I followed along on Sunday when the two teams combined for like 60 runs, in just 7 innings!

So, my first game of the season would have to wait. Until yesterday…

After navigating a bit more traffic than usual from VA Beach to Williamsburg, Rachel and I finally got off Route 64, then took the winding roads of Williamsburg over to Plumeri Park, home of the William & Mary Tribe Baseball team. Having visited there recently, I knew parking would be an issue and was happy to see a sign that read “baseball parking” and an arrow. I followed the arrow’s directions to an adjacent parking lot, which I later found out was the parking lot for the Eastern State Hospital. You can read more about the hospital and its history below. Wow, founded in 1773, oldest psychiatric hospital in the United States. Pretty cool find there.

Heading up to the gate and ticket office, I could hear the sounds of live baseball chiming like music to my ears. After taking the short walk over to the ticket office and grabbing two tickets for myself and Rachel, I took a slow walk into Plumeri Park to soak it all in. No matter how many games I have attended, from my kids Tee ball games to Fenway Park, it never gets old for me. Watching infield practice, surveying the outfield for starting pitchers throwing long toss, laughing at the pre-game pranks players engage in to stay loose – baseball is a fun sport and an incredible live experience every time you go to a game at any level. I don’t care what any non-baseball fan has to say, baseball will always be America’s game.

Plumeri Park is a mostly bleacher type seating baseball park. Fans can elect to purchase an upgraded ticket to sit in an actual seat, which there is a row of them above the bleacher sections throughout the fan seating area. Fans finding bleacher seats or stand from about the first base bag to the third base bag, as the bleachers wrap from dugout to behind home plate to dugout. A protective netting provides safety for fans right behind the dugouts, although there were a few topspin foul balls yesterday that made it over the netting and hit the press box, located due south of home plate directionally. Rachel and I parked about halfway from home plate to the home dugout area on the top row of the bleachers, so the sun could continue to warm us up. Game time temperature was about 55 to 60 degrees with the sun hitting you. In the shade, probably take 5 or 10 degrees off those numbers. Sun sitting spots were in high demand as most of the fans sat in and around where we were. Smart folks!!!

First pitch between the William & Mary Tribe and the visiting Boston College Eagles was about 4:06pm. The American Flag, situated to the right of the scoreboard in left field, was blown mostly out and towards center field. Not a gusty wind, just a steady wind. Probably nothing like the hurricane force winds from the 36-22 URI game earlier in the month. I was excited to see Boston College baseball live, mostly because of its historic prominence in New England college baseball for decades. Recent BC Eagles who have played or are playing currently in Major League Baseball include Sal Frelick, Justin Dunn, and Rhode Island native Michael King. And of course, you cannot mention BC baseball without the incomparable Pete Frates, who was the BC baseball captain and star center fielder the early 2000s. What a hero for ALS Pete Frates became. RIP Pete! So, it goes without saying that Boston College is a baseball force nationally, and I was so psyched to witness them play locally here in VA.

After somewhat of a slow start, both teams got the bats and the timely hitting going in the 2nd inning, and beyond. The second inning featured 10 runs, some wild pitches, a few errors, steals, errant pickoff to second, pitching changes, and a whole lot of other baseball stuff. And a ton of hits and runs scored with 2 outs. I took the opportunity to walk around the park during the 3rd inning of play to see the game from (first) the third base side and then halfway to right field just passed where I set up originally. Plumeri Park is an amazing spectator baseball experience with tons of great views. The netting and poles do obstruct some viewing so you have to be strategic about where you sit if you want to see all of the game action at the plate. It was fairly crowded during the time I was at the game, with people coming and going based on their level of cold and thirst. Rachel and I stuck around until about the 4th inning before departing, because the sun had set and the cold was started to really creep in.

As I do with most games I attend and leave early from, I checked the box score of the game when I got home. The hits and scoring continued, especially from William & Mary, as they built an 11-5 lead heading into the 5th inning. However, the BC Eagles bats came alive in the 6th through 9th innings, scoring 9 unanswered runs to push the final score of 14-11 over the home Tribe baseball club. Looking over the box score, William & Mary did collect 15 hits and scored 11 runs against a national powerhouse in Boston College. And LF Christian Rush hit his first home run of the season, a 3 run jack in the 4th inning just as Rachel and I were crossing the road heading back to the parking lot.

So, a lot of positives I suppose and something to build on as William and Mary continues play this weekend and this Spring. The weather was very comfortable in the sun, rather chilly in the shade. But, that’s to be expected in late February here in Virginia. I loved all the great seating at Plumeri and the awesome views of the field no matter where I stood or sat. The fans were into it from the first pitch and there was a nice contingent of BC fans that made the trip. I will definitely be back up to William & Mary to see a ton more games this year and for years to come. Overall, it was an awesome Williamsburg baseball experience watching my first game of 2025, with Rachel by my side, featuring the Boston College Eagles vs. the William & Mary Tribe at beautiful Plumeri Park.