Aug. 31, 2010
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The South Bend Silver Hawks, the Class A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, last Friday hosted `Notre Dame Men’s Lacrosse Night at the Cove’. The Silver Hawks honored the 2010 NCAA Championship runner-up Irish before and during the game against the Dayton Dragons at Coveleski Stadium.
The Fighting Irish squad was welcomed onto the field prior to the game as head coach Kevin Corrigan threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Corrigan, using a lacrosse stick, fired a shot into home plate to get the festivities underway. Corrigan’s youngest daughter, Natale, then took to the microphone to yell `play ball’ before the Silver Hawks took the field.
At the conclusion of the third inning, Silver Hawks president Joe Kernan honored the Notre Dame seniors and coaches on the field. Kernan, a former Notre Dame baseball player, has served the City of South Bend and the State of Indiana as South Bend City Controller, Mayor of South Bend, Lieutenant Governor of Indiana and Governor of Indiana. Kernan presented Kevin Corrigan with a bat and thanked the team for the run they made in the 2010 NCAA Tournament and for all they do in the community.
The seniors then took their seats for an autograph session on the Coveleski Stadium concourse. A long line waited in anticipation of getting several signatures on the team’s official 2010 poster. The session gave the student-athletes a chance to interact with their fans from the South Bend community.
Possibly the most anticipated event of the night was the Martin’s Produce Race in the middle of the sixth inning. Corrigan, assistant coach Brian Fisher and volunteer assistant coach Kevin Anderson participated in the race. Fisher, dressed as a carrot, brushed off a slow start and a couple stumbles to take the contest over the broccoli (Corrigan) and corn (Anderson).
During the seventh-inning stretch, several Notre Dame players stood on top of the dugouts to lead the crowd in the singing of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”.
The Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team made a memorable run to the title game of the 2010 NCAA Championship by defeating No. 6 Princeton (8-5), No. 3 Maryland (7-5) and No. 7 Cornell (12-7). The journey ended with a 6-5 overtime loss to No. 5 Duke at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md. It was the first national title game appearance in program history.
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