June 29, 2009

Freshman infielder Nik Balog blogs from the Northwest League, where he is a member of the Spokane (WA) Riverhawks. Check back to USFDons.com through the end of July for more Diamond Dons blogs.

Nik Balog

I left June 2 for Spokane, Washington to start my summer ball experience. I was very excited and ready to embark on this new experience. I left San Jose International Airport at 12:25 PM only to arrive in Seattle at 2:00 PM then transfer over to Spokane. Once I arrived in the Spokane Airport I was greeted by my host mom and from there we left for her son's baseball game in Coeur D'Alene resort in Idaho.

I am currently living with a single mother and her son. Ganene, the mother, and Tyler, the son, are extremely nice people and welcomed me into their family with open arms. A host family basically takes a baseball player into their home by feeding him and giving him a home. I reside in Spokane Valley which is a little town just on the outskirts of the main city Spokane.

Now coming from a city like San Francisco to Spokane is like day and night. Spokane is more on the country side whereas San Francisco is a huge multicultural city. Making this transition was tough in the beginning but once I got used to the area, it is a ton of fun. But what is making this experience great are my teammates.

My teammates are a great bunch of kids. We all have a great time but do work when work has to get done. As a team we have gone rafting, fishing, and go out a lot of the time. A lot of WCC players play in this league, so it is really cool that I get to play with some kids from USD, Gonzaga, Pepperdine, and more. I am also playing with my fellow teammates Kyle Lawton, and Garrett Luippold. The team is doing well with a record of 8 wins and 6 losses. Barry Matthews, our head coach, is a great guy. I enjoy playing for him and have a lot of fun off the field too. Our other assistant coaches are also great people, with not only a great knowledge of baseball but they have a great interaction with us players.

Traveling makes summer ball summer ball. Our bus is a big charter bus, similar to the one we use at USF, which has Riverhawks written all over it. We travel to a ton of places including Wenatchee, Moses Lake, Corvallis, Bend (Oregon), Kelowna (Canada), Kitsap, and much more. Our shortest bus ride is an hour and a half, while our longest one is eight hours. But time doesn't really matter because we have so much fun messing around on the bus, that time flies.

All in all, I am having a great time here in Spokane and am getting use to the giant change in culture. I am very grateful to have the opportunity to be experiencing this, knowing these memories will stick with me throughout my life.