An institutional recall thwarted the San Quentin A’s double header on June 17, 2023, causing the team to walk off the field and settle for one victory against the Southern California baseball team, Team Victory. The SQ A’s defeated the visitors 15-5 in a crushing game.
Team Victory, made of 13 visitors from across the state, earned their plays and runs through the infield to avoid the A’s no-fly zone in the outfield.
“We stuck to the fundamentals of the game, and by doing so they just played into our favor,” said A’s left-fielder Chris Gawron.
Several of the outside team members had visited the prison before, but it was Team Victory’s Coach Bob’s first time bringing in his entire family to play.
“I thought it would be a good thing to bring my daughter in,” said Bob. “She [Shea] plays softball out there and she knows the game. My wife and I have a baseball family. We love coming here.”
It was the SQ A’s first time having a woman play the outfield and hit a fastball thrown by A’s star pitcher Jeff “Dewey” Dumont, making history. Shea hit a pop fly that landed in the hands of A’s first baseman Everett Wiley, and later returned the favor when she caught Wiley’s own pop fly.
“She [Shea] was a baller and she played her position well. It ended up becoming a double play,” Wiley said.
Gawron agrees. “She’s a heck of a ball player. And she played as good as any other second basemen that I’ve seen since I’ve been a part of the A’s here at San Quentin. Next time, I’m trying to hit everywhere she’s not,” he said.
Another woman played in an A’s game during the 2017- 18 season, but she only came to bat. She hit a fly ball to the outfield, according to longtime A’s coach Rob Tyler.
Team Victory pitcher Dylan Hunt could not stop the A’s players from roping his fastballs down the line and out to the fence that partitions the yard from the education building. Gawron hit the first “hot-gapping ball” to deep center with two men on base, driving in the A’s first two runs that got the game off to a fast start.
I thought it would be a
—Coach Bob
good thing to bring my
daughter in. She plays
softball out there and
she knows the game.
My wife and I have a
baseball family. We
love coming here.
“When all of us are hitting on all cylinders, we see the ball and we hit. It’s that simple. Working together as a team, we have the capabilities to be the best,” said Gawron, who went three-for-three.
Although Team Victory leftfielder Doug Thigpen went three-for-four with two doubles, a single, and driving in runners on base, it was not enough to put his team in running distance to catch up with the A’s.
Robyn — wife to Coach Bob — and her entourage enjoyed the game from Team Victory bullpewn, cheering every time her team and kids made a play. Bob made an impressive hit down the right field line with runners on base, and their son Tanner made two diving plays at third base to suppress the ball.
A’s starting pitcher “Dewey” Dumont threw over 150 pitches, leading his team to victory.
“You know you didn’t have to pitch the whole game,” stated a supporting Team Victory player, prompting laughter from both teams.
