Gabe Glenn returns to the diamond in honor of mother
/This story was originally written for the Sand Springs Leader.
Gabe Glenn can’t remember the last time he played a game without his mother in the stands.
“I couldn’t tell you one baseball game she missed in 14 years probably,” he said. “Not one.”
But she couldn’t make it to Sunday evening’s Tulsa Area All Star game at ONEOK Field in Tulsa. She won’t get to see her son play in college, or ever again. At least, not in person.
Amanda Glenn was one of four victims of the gunman who attacked the St. Francis Natalie building in Tulsa on June 1. She was laid to rest on Thursday.
Since her death, baseball has been the furthest thing from Gabe’s mind. “I haven’t thought much about (baseball),” said Glenn. “But it was good to get here.”
“It’s good to be back playing ball,” said Glenn. “That’s what I love doing. Honestly, I miss Ma. I doubted playing this game, but that’s what she would want me to do.”
Glenn got the start and spent five innings at third base, recording one put-out. He was 1-of-3 at the plate with a walk, a single, and a reach-on-error that drove in a run.
The win capped a lustrous high school career for the Sandite, who finished his senior season with a .433 batting average, 45 RBI, and 37 runs scored.
He plans to continue his career at the next level.
“I was doing it for me, but I’m also doing it for her. She loves me playing. Today was my first baseball game ever without my mom. She’d want me to go to college; she wanted me to play college baseball.”
Glenn has an offer from Northern Oklahoma College at Tonkawa, and a few other colleges are also talking to him.
Whatever the future has in store for him, he’ll never find better teammates than his boys in black and gold.
“The support I’ve gotten from Sand Springs has been unbelievable. I can’t explain it. Ty (Pennington), Cruz (Norris), and Gunnar (Casey); those are my three best friends. It’s us four, always.”
Pennington was selected to the All-State game in Enid last Sunday but skipped it to spend time with Glenn.
Glenn also had two teammates on the All Star squad with him, and the stands were filled with Sand Springs supporters. The roar from the crowd was noticeably louder when Sandites took the plate than when anyone else was at bat.
Carson Seabolt spent three innings in center field and pitched the fifth inning. On the mound he recorded the win with one strikeout, two walks, and no hits or runs scored.
Seabolt also scored the North’s first run after drawing a walk in the bottom of the third. Glenn reached on an error and Seabolt came home to make it 2-1.
Courtesy of Avery Tanner.
Nathan Gibson drove in the game-tying RBI on a sacrifice hit to third in the fifth inning and recorded five put-outs in four innings at first base.
The North got the 4-2 win, but the bottom of the seventh was played anyways to give the teams equal playing time in the exhibition match.
For Gibson and Seabolt, it was the end of the road. The two plan on attending tech school next year to study HVAC systems.
All three Sandites wore special stickers on their helmets with the letter “A” for Amanda at the center of two angel wings. There’s little doubt she still managed to watch her son’s final game as a Sandite.
