Fourteen-year-old Frankie Girling is a pitcher for his Lake Orion Youth Baseball team.
But the most exciting pitch he’s ever thrown wasn’t in Orion, it was at Comerica Park in downtown Detroit.
It’s every child’s dream to throw out the first pitch at a Detroit Tigers? game, and on August 3, that dream came true for Girling.
‘I was really nervous,? he said. ‘When I got out there, I wasn’t sure what to do.?
Girling, who went to Scripps Middle School and will be starting at Lake Orion High School in the fall, was picked to throw out the pitch after being nominated as a Great Lakes Scholar.
The program honors students grades 3-8 who excel in the classroom, in the community, as leaders in extracurricular, church or other outside interests, as well as on the athletic fields and courts in Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
Girling has a 3.9 grade point average, is two grades ahead in math and helped his baseball team, Collex Collision, to second place in its division this year.
But these accomplishments pale in comparison to getting a taste of the big leagues.
Retired ballplayer and current Tigers? first base coach, Andy Van Slyke, caught Girling’s pitch and signed the ball for the youngster.
‘I couldn’t stop smiling,? Girling said.
Baseball is definitely something Girling said he wants to pursue. Come spring, he will go out for the Lake Orion High School baseball squad.