Yesterday was Rhode Island Day at Fenway Park and a special Rhode Islander threw out the first pitch. On her way from Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital to her Newport home, Heather Abbott, survivor, stopped by Fenway Park and walked out to the pitcher's mound.
The last time she was at Fenway Park had been Monday, April 15, Patriot's Day. After she left the stadium, Abbott and friends went to the see the finish of the Boston Marathon on Boylston Street. She was caught in the second bombing and lost part of her left leg as a result of her injuries.
According to the Providence Journal, Abbott got out of her wheelchair and walked out to the mound at Fenway Park to throw out the ceremonial first pitch on Saturday. "She braced herself on her right foot and threw a strike to Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia," the story said.
It was a strike.
In another aspect of Rhode Island Day festivities, the Journal reported, the Red Sox awarded $1,000 college scholarships to 20 Rhode Island high school students.
The students: Titilope Bankole, Hope High School; Harriette Beah, Mount Pleasant High School; Derek Bell, Woonsocket High School; Gabrielle English, Portsmouth High School; Victoria Ferraro, Chariho Regional High School; Brianna Florio, Pilgrim High School; Jessica Fournier, North Kingstown High School; Lindsay Gagne, Coventry High School; John Hindley, Smithfield High School; Katherine Mitchell, Rogers High School; Isabel Newton, East Providence High School; Adriana Pagano, Cranston High School East; Rachel Pimentel, Tiverton High School; Bryan Quinlan, Shea High School; Lindsay Ratcliffe, Cranston High School West; Bethanie Royality-Lindman, South Kingstown High School; Lesdin Salazar, Central Falls High School; Jameel Sylvia, Mt. Hope High School; Nisa Villareal, Johnston Senior High School; Monique Walmsley, Westerly High School.
The Blue Jays went on to beat the Red Sox, 3-2.