Longwood’s baseball team held their annual ‘Spooky Slugfest’ on Thursday, October 24 – putting on their silliest costumes for a scrimmage game at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
Partnering with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), the team put together an event with plenty of activities and entertainment for Farmville. This event was put together for kids to come out to the baseball field and see the team play for a couple of innings then trick or treat out on the field.
Although the game was short, the entertainment value was clear to see. For the game they divided the team in two for a team scrimmage. There were some base hits, double plays, and some hits into the outfield. “It was fun to see the players running around and playing in all their different costumes”, said one parent in the bleachers to The Rotunda.
After a couple of exciting innings of baseball, other sports teams at Longwood set up trick-or-treating and games for the kids in attendance. Some of the teams out there were baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, track and field and soccer.
Baseball had kids pitching and they clocked the speed that the kids were throwing at. Men’s and Women’s basketball had small hoops for kids to try and make a basket. The track and field team held relay races in the outfield. The soccer team had a net set up for kids to score goals in.
The main entertainment for this Spooky Slugfest was trick-or-treating and the fun activities for the kids in Farmville. Elwood, Longwood’s mascot, even greeted and took pictures with the kids during the game. Kids dressed up in many different costumes, such as princesses, fairies, witches, Mario, and many different animals.
Kids in attendance were also able to go around and interact with all of the student-athletes on the baseball field. Freshman basketball guard Stark Jones said to The Rotunda, “My favorite part of the slugfest was interacting with the kids and giving them candy and seeing them have a smile on their face.”
Not only did the baseball team put on their silly costumes, so did all of the other sports teams in attendance. There were lots of fun and interesting costumes at the Slugfest this year, like Harry Potter, Elmo, a taco, a hotdog, and Scooby Doo.
Those in attendance voted Slinky Dog from Toy Story as the best costume, a duo costume with freshman baseball players Ethan Plesser and Jorden Olivera. They say that although they were connected the whole game by their costume, that didn’t stop them from a strong performance. “We were able to get [to the ball] quick”, said Plesser.
Longwood’s baseball team has hosted the Spooky Slugfest since 2016, and don’t seem apt to make 2024 the last.
(Note: This article was originally published on December 2, 2024.)
