Attribution -alpineinc at https://www.flickr.com/photos/67607399@N00/164627019 - wiki commons

I watched in amazement as a 20-year-old walked out for the first time in a major league game and shut down his opponent.

Bryse Wilson pitched 5 innings of perfect, scoreless baseball for the Atlanta Braves last night. I don’t know who I was happiest for, was it for Bryse himself, maybe his parents beaming from the stands. Maybe it was the Braves organization, his pitching coach, his General Manager and then I realized it was me, the fan. This person sitting home in her recliner with eyes glued to the TV, trying to fight back tears of joy, while watching a very young mans, dream come true. All the hard work was coming to fruition. He was now a major league baseball pitcher.

Only two short years ago this young man was pitching for Orange County High School in Hillsborough, North Carolina. While in high school Bryse only lost 4 games and won 33. Straight from Orange Co. High, he was offered at 1.2 million dollars signing bonus with the Atlanta Braves organization. Bryse also played middle linebacker for his high school football team. Very talented, athletic young man.

Bryse zoomed through only two short years of minor league baseball before making his major league debut last night.

This young man walked into PNC Park and up to the pitching mound with authority. If he had any nerves at all, they didn’t show. He squared his shoulders and got the sign from the catcher, Kurt Suzuki. The first batter was left fielder, Corey Dickerson who has a .308 average. Dickerson struck out swinging. Next victim, center fielder, Frazier had the same outcome. He was struck out swinging. The third man in the line-up for the Pirates, right fielder, Polanko, who grounded out to second. That brought to a close the first inning for Wilson and what an inning it was.

I watched as the camera’s kept going to Wilson’s parents, Chad and Tracey Wilson, in the stands at PNC Park. They were radiant with pride. We witnessed a wonderful show of sportsmanship from the Pirates fans as they shook the Wilson’s hands and congratulated them on their son’s achievement in beating their own team. The Pirates fans showed they were genuinely happy for these parents. Who couldn’t see the joy in their faces?

Youtube MLB Daily Recap

The Braves are sporting some of the youngest players in MLB this season. With twenty-years-old Kolby Allard and Ronald Acuna Jr. and Twenty-one-year-old Ozzie Albies. Tonight in walked twenty-year-old Bryse Wilson and blew us all away. He quietly and methodically did his job. He even showed he could pitch out of a jam when in the 5th inning he did just that. With runners on first and second, Bryse got Dickerson to hit into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

When Wilson didn't return in the 6th most pitchers would go back to the locker room and get their shoulders iced. Not our Bryse Wilson, he stayed in the dugout and soaked it all in. His first Major League game as a pitcher, the sights, the sounds, the smells and the feelings of comradery with his team-mates in winning his first. I hope he never forgets the feeling of this first game and PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The Braves look to prosper for a few years to come.

Here is a big "atta boy" to Bryse Wilson and the Wilson family from me, just a fan.

MLB / pnc park

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