{"id":59301,"date":"2025-07-21T17:02:33","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T21:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=59301"},"modified":"2025-07-21T17:59:06","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T21:59:06","slug":"take-us-out-to-the-ballgame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/take-us-out-to-the-ballgame\/","title":{"rendered":"Take us out to the ballgame"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Baseball fans, EMU families and friends pack ballpark for third annual EMU Night with the Turks<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seventeen days after retiring from a 34-year career at EMU, Bonnie Bowser<\/strong> was out and about at the local ballpark on Thursday evening, catching up with campus coworkers, sporting her EMU ALUMNI <\/em>cap, and excited to cheer on the home-team Harrisonburg Turks baseball squad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bowser, former circulation & office manager for the Sadie Hartzler Library, and her husband, Henry, were among more than 70 EMU supporters who turned out at Veterans Memorial Park in Harrisonburg for the third annual EMU Night with the Turks baseball game. For her, the main draw was seeing familiar faces from the EMU community, more than the game itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese people are my family,\u201d she said, pointing to the others around her, decked out in EMU colors. \u201cThey\u2019ve been family for 34 years.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fans who bought popcorn from the concession stand could bring home a shiny new EMU-branded popcorn bucket.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

EMU Night with the Turks is a popular event for fans of America\u2019s pastime and EMU Royals of all ages to enjoy a summer evening at the ballpark, cheer on the home team, and show their Royal pride. Those who wore EMU apparel were granted free admission for the game. The first 50 fans who bought popcorn from the concession stand received it in a collectible EMU bucket. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Harrisonburg Turks jumped out to a 7-0 lead and held off the Staunton Braves for a 7\u20134 win.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Turks are part of the 12-team Valley Baseball League, a collegiate summer baseball league that features players from across the country. Thursday\u2019s game featured a matchup between two South Division powerhouses: the first-place Turks and second-place Staunton Braves. The Turks got off to a quick start, scoring four runs in the first inning and three more over the next three frames. The Braves came roaring back with four runs but fell short, as the Turks won 7-4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The rain held off on Thursday, offering a welcome break from frequent summer thunderstorms.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

An EMU alumnus who regularly attends Turks games, Brian Enedy \u201902, <\/strong>who earned a degree in recreation leadership and sports studies, appreciated the plentiful scoring and said Harrisonburg had a good shot at securing the top seed in the upcoming playoffs. \u201cIt\u2019s fun to come out and watch the players from different schools,\u201d he said. \u201cYou never know, some of them might make it to the major leagues someday, and you can say, \u2018I saw them play here.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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EMU\u2019s new interim president Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus gives Herm a high-five after throwing out the first pitch.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Channeling her inner softball slinger, EMU\u2019s new interim president Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus<\/strong> threw out the ceremonial first pitch, uncorking an arcing toss described by the announcer as an \u201cunderhand curve.\u201d The pitch ambled across the plate right on target. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gill and Herm race down the field to prove who’s fleetest of foot.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Throughout the game, EMU\u2019s mascot, Herm, and the Turks mascot, Gill, greeted fans and friends in the stands, competed in a footrace\u2014Gill eked out the win by a beak\u2019s length\u2014and spread positivity and good sportsmanship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Aric Berg, project manager for EMU’s marketing and communications department, launches shirts out of the T-shirt cannon.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Staff members from EMU\u2019s marketing and communications department threw hats and fired shirts into the crowd, using a T-shirt cannon designed by EMU engineering grad Adam Stoltzfus \u201925<\/strong> with help from engineering lab tech Henry Bowser<\/strong> and funded by 2019 alumni Ben and Kayla Zook<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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EMU supporters enter the ballpark to cheer on the home team and show off their Royal pride on Thursday.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

EMU Night with the Turks also offered a chance for future Royals to meet Herm and others within the campus community. Friends and Buffalo Gap High School grads Karina Bondaruk <\/strong>and Leah Palmieri, <\/strong>who will be attending EMU as first-year students this fall, saw posts on the university\u2019s official Instagram page\u2014give it a follow here!<\/strong><\/a>\u2014promoting the event and felt it would be a good way to connect with the community. \u201cWe just wanted to soak in the EMU atmosphere,\u201d Palmieri said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melvin Felix,<\/strong> coach of the Royals men\u2019s basketball team, and his wife brought their three young sons out to the ballpark for the game. \u201cThey\u2019ve only been to little league tee-ball games,\u201d he said, \u201cso this is their first big league experience.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Baseball fans, EMU families and friends pack ballpark for third annual EMU Night with the Turks Seventeen days after retiring from a 34-year career at EMU, Bonnie Bowser was out ... read more about Take us out to the ballgame<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":302,"featured_media":59302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5583,14715,5861,17562,4513],"tags":[7946,18480,18128,17628,18125],"feature":[17427,17426,17241,17422],"class_list":["post-59301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","category-campus-life","category-conferences-and-events","category-digest","category-student-life","tag-baseball","tag-bonnie-bowser","tag-emu-night-with-the-turks","tag-melvin-felix","tag-valley-baseball-league","feature-emu-home-page-feature","feature-myemu-feature","feature-news-feature","feature-news-landing-page-main-feature"],"yoast_head":"\nTake us out to the ballgame - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/take-us-out-to-the-ballgame\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Take us out to the ballgame - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Baseball fans, EMU families and friends pack ballpark for third annual EMU Night with the Turks Seventeen days after retiring from a 34-year career at EMU, Bonnie Bowser was out\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/take-us-out-to-the-ballgame\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/EasternMennonite\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-21T21:02:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-21T21:59:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/07\/21151753\/20250717-Night-with-the-Turks_MM-037-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ryan Cornell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@EMU_News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ryan Cornell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/take-us-out-to-the-ballgame\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/take-us-out-to-the-ballgame\/\",\"name\":\"Take us out to the ballgame - EMU News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/take-us-out-to-the-ballgame\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/take-us-out-to-the-ballgame\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/07\/21151753\/20250717-Night-with-the-Turks_MM-037-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-21T21:02:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-21T21:59:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/4d24e9770fdab8276fbcf29504123fdf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/take-us-out-to-the-ballgame\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/take-us-out-to-the-ballgame\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2025\/take-us-out-to-the-ballgame\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/07\/21151753\/20250717-Night-with-the-Turks_MM-037-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/emu-wordpress-multisite-instance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/07\/21151753\/20250717-Night-with-the-Turks_MM-037-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"The 2025 \\\"Night With The Turks\\\" took place on Thursday, July 17, 2025 at Veterans Memorial Park in Harrisonburg, VA. 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