From the sidelines
Marty Gordon
NRVsports@ourvalley.org
Sometimes, sports can play a distraction to what is going on around us. With the recent negative news stories over the past few weeks, high school football is starting at a good time.
Friday night, I encourage everyone to go out and see a local game. There are a lot of good moments in sports, and last week we saw several of those here in our own backyard.
The recent Dana Palmer weekend raised $7,389.66. Palmer is a former Radford Bobcat football player who passed away after a battle with cancer. Every year, his family and friends hold a fundraising weekend that includes a music festival and golf tournament. The funds go towards an endowed Radford High School scholarship.
Also, the New York Yankees sent a player to Pulaski for a recent rehabilitation stay, but Kyle Higashioka’s rehab assignment has come to an end. He appeared in two games at Calfee Park and finished with four hits in five at bats, including three homers.
The 27-year-old had spent time with the New York Yankees and their Triple-A affiliate, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Rail Riders. He was called to the Bronx on April 9 and made his Major League Baseball debut on April 10. In two separate stints, he appeared in nine games on the big level.
“It was pretty incredible. It’s kind of something you can’t put into words,” Higashioka said on being called up to play for the Yankees.
The Yankees sent him to their Triple-A Affiliate the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Rail Riders.
A back injury forced him to go on the disabled list on June 22 after a hot start in spring training when he hit .296 with two homers in 20 games. Higashioka spent the first three games of his rehab assignment with the Staten Island Yankees before being sent to Pulaski.
“I feel 100 percent-ready to go,” Higashioka said before his final game in Pulaski on Thursday night when he went two for three with a double and a homer.
“There’s really nice facilities here. The owner (David Hagan) has done a really good job of making it so that these guys are really comfortable,” said Higashioka who has spent the entirety of his nine-year career in the Yankees’ organization.
Also, Pulaski played a major role in a military reunion as Sgt. Michael Tabor surprised his two young children after a nine-month deployment to Kuwait.
The kids were running a relay race on the field, and when they turned around to run back and here was their father. They had no clue that he was coming home. Another one of those emotional feel-good moments.
