DANVILLE — While Friday was not the most ideal baseball game as far as weather, it was a game that late Danville baseball coach and Athletics Director Gary Gritton would have liked.
First, Gritton was honored before the game and the Vikings would rally to get within 10-9 of Bloomington, but the Purple Raiders were able to hang on.
“We made it to the end. The thought crossed my mind that it would have been a game that he would have liked,” Danville coach Matthew Skrovan said. “We had the tying run at third and Marvin Davis was trying to score from third on a wild pitch. It was a bang-bang play and sometimes you get it and sometimes you don’t.”
During the opening ceremony, Gritton’s family was given gifts from Danville and Bloomington and Gritton’s son, Nigel, threw the first pitch.
“I feel like that he is here and I can feel him,” Gritton’s widow, Meridith Gritton, said. “It feels good to be here with him because it feels like we are together. How I feel all the time now is that I am in a room and he is in a another room and I cannot go into the same room as him, so I feel that he is near.
“That was so special and I was happy to see him (Nigel) make the plate. He has a good arm and could do this, so this was really awesome.”
The idea from the ceremony came from school athletics director Megan Mattingly, district athletics director Mark Bacys and Danville baseball coach Matthew Skrovan.
“It is an honor to do so and one of my goals is to keep his name alive because of the impact he had on not just me but the community,” Mattingly said. “I will continue to keep his name alive and do everything I can to honor him. He (Skrovan) had the idea and I did some work on the back end and did everything I could. This place is special to the family since he spent a lot of time here and it was easy to get them out here to support him.”
“Baseball was Gary’s passion and he led the team for a long time and had very successful teams and history here,” Bacys said. “One of his best friends coaching-wise is Bloomington coach Steve Clapp, so when we knew this was the matchup and Steve wanted to be a part of it. It was a natural fit to schedule this game and have this night for Gary.
“Megan was able to put this together like Nigel throwing the first pitch and took the reigns and made that happen. It is nice to see some former coaches and players for Gary and all the administrative staff and past players are here. It was a good turnout.”
“Gary was a staple of the baseball team for years and wore his heart on his sleeve and he made great connections with people of all ages and coaches in his time of AD,” Skrovan said. “It was nice to see the family out and to see a hard-nosed game that Gary was a part of.”
The Vikings were coming off their first win of the season on Thursday with a 4-2 win over Paris in the second game of a doubleheader at Danville Stadium.
The Vikings scored its first two runs on a wild pitch in the first inning, Brody Boyd hit an sacrifice fly in the third and Braxton Butler had an RBI. Marvin Davis had two stolen bases and Alex McQuown had five strikeouts to get the win.
Danville lost the first game 10-2 as Grady DeVors and Javien Wilson got RBIs for the Vikings.
“We are doing the right things on defense, we put the ball in play and we were pitching strikes,” Skrovan said about the last two games. “It puts you in a competitive position to score runs and keeps the other team from scoring runs.
The Vikings are 1-9 and will face Normal Community on Monday.