Pelescak Reaches Goal, Snags 400th Ball of 2010
Pittsburgh Ballhawk Joins Jabs, Hample as Only Members With 400 Ball Season
by Alan Schuster, September 22, 2010Chris Resop, left, pauses for a photo op after providing Pelescak with his 400th ball of the season.This past Saturday at PNC Park Nick Pelescak completed a feat that in the history of myGameBalls.com has only been accomplished by Zack Hample and Erik Jabs. Now at the tail end of a dream season in which he has averaged 5.67 balls per game, Pelescak has successfully reached the 400-ball milestone. Back in mid-August he set a goal of reaching 400 before the end of the season, and consistently strong outings throughout late August and early September put him in position to do just that. When he arrived at the ballpark on Saturday he needed just two balls to achieve the milestone. He snagged a BP homer off the bounce to get himself on the board and then prepared for the goal-setting snag. Surprisingly, he didn't try to go after a superstar player for his next ball; instead, he looked to Pirates' bullpen catcher Chris Resop. Resop had chatted with Pelescak at previous games about both his blog and the Ballhawk League, so Pelescak liked the idea of getting number 400 from him. "I was working with Pedro Ciriaco and Jason Jaramillo at the time, and yea I would've liked to get a home run on the fly for the milestone," he blogged after the game. "but I kinda wanted to get a thrown ball from Chris Resop given his genuine interest in the BHL so I was kinda hoping a hr wouldnt be hit at me cause I may have just let it go." Pelescak had actually talked with Resop earlier in the day about being two balls shy of 400, so after seeing Pelescak get the first ball Resop knew that the next one would be 400. He tossed the ball up, and with a simple squeeze of the mitt Pelescak recorded his 400th snag of 2010. He finished the day with three balls and a season total of 401, establishing one of the greatest ballhawking seasons in history. Pelescak's secret for reaching 400? Just have fun. "I had to really stay focused, hustle alot, and try just to have fun being a part of baseball instead of stressing over it to make it to 400," he wrote. With a handful of games still left, Pelescak now has his sights set on reaching 450, and is also teaming up with Erik Jabs to try to finish the season with 1,000 balls between them. Check out Nick Pelescak's blog for the full report