WINNSBORO – When Scott Carter learned he had been chosen to throw out the first pitch at Saturday night’s Columbia Fireflies game, his face lit up.
“Oh, that would be so cool,” Carter said.
Then he added something that surprised Laura Collins, director of the Fairfield County Disabilities and Special Needs Board.
“That’s on my bucket list, No. 3!”
Carter joined about 60 residents and staff members from the Disabilities and Special Needs Center in Winnsboro for an outing Saturday, Aug. 22, at Segra Park in Columbia, where the Fireflies faced the Augusta GreenJackets. The evening was the Fireflies’ Faith & Family Night and included a pregame Christian concert, the baseball game and postgame fireworks.
The outing came about through Winnsboro resident Ron Smith, who has a connection with the Fireflies and serves on the Disabilities and Special Needs’ capital campaign committee.
Smith had been talking with Collins and others about the Fireflies and looking for ways to introduce people to what the organization offers. When the Faith & Family Night opportunity came along, Collins said it seemed like the perfect fit for the center’s residents.
“Almost all of them went on the trip, and we traveled to Columbia in several vehicles,” Collins said.
Their admission passes included a buffet meal of ballpark favorites and drinks. Each person also received a Fireflies baseball cap.
But one part of the evening belonged especially to Carter.
“When I learned that someone from the group would have the opportunity to throw out a ceremonial first pitch, I began think ing about which resident might get the most out of the experience,” she said.
Her thoughts turned to Carter, who has been at the center for about a year and uses a wheelchair after suffering a head injury.
“I just thought it would really be something that would boost him up,” Collins said.
Before the outing, she approached him with the idea.
“I said, ‘Well, you know about the Fireflies game, right?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’ And I said, ‘How would you feel about throwing out a first pitch?’”
That was when Carter’s face lit up and he revealed that throwing out a first pitch was not simply something he thought would be fun. It was something he had been hoping to do.
And it had a number.
No. 3.
“I was floored, because he had it numbered,” Collins recalled.
Naturally, that led to the next question: What are No. 1 and 2?
One is to ride a horse, something Carter told Collins he has long wanted to do because of his passion for horses. Collins, who owns horses herself, told him she hopes they can work on making that wish happen, too.
The other is attending a University of South Carolina women’s basketball game and, if possible, meeting head coach Dawn Staley.
For now, though, one of those wishes has officially moved from Carter’s bucket list to his list of memories.
On Saturday night, with his fellow residents and staff there to cheer him on, Carter took the field at Segra Park and threw out the first pitch.
Collins said the outing was something different for the residents – one they thoroughly enjoyed.
“They had a fabulous time,” she said.
For Carter, it was a little more than that.
It was No. 3.
