Dec. 17, 2012

Day 7

Day 6

Day 5

Day 4

Days 1 & 2

Not in Kansas Any More

The Kansas Jayhawks are spending eight days in the Dominican Republic. Kansas will play eight games during their trip, mixing in charitable efforts along the way. Head coach Ritch Price (pictured below) will check in each day with thoughts on the journey.

(Photos by Jeff Jacobsen/KAI)

Day 3 – Monday

It was a special day at the ballpark with Kansas City Royals GM Dayton Moore down to watch us play. We have so many connections with the Royals on our team, with Rusty Kuntz’s son (Kevin) and advance scout Gene Watson’s son (Tyler) on the team, plus a lot of our players grew up cheering for the Royals. It made the day extra special for those players.

Today ended up being a great win. We’re down three in the eighth inning, and we get a clutch three-run homer by Tucker Tharp to tie the ballgame. From there, I was really proud of how we grinded and found a way to win.

It’s also been encouraging seeing our guys rise to the occasion late in the game because you’re always going to face adversity during the season. The more often you can overcome that adversity, the more confident you are, and that’s something we always preach to the players.

After the game we drove out to San Pedro de Macoris to visit an orphanage there. This ended up being one of the greatest team activities that I’ve ever been associated with. I’m so proud of our players right now. (sophomore Joe Luvisi pictured right)

There are about 250 kids at this particular orphanage with a large number of them displaced Haitians from the devastating earthquake a couple of years ago. My guys got together with those kids and they played catch with them; they flew kites with them; a couple of soccer games broke out. It was really amazing to see.

Our players really put a lot of energy into this visit, and for that I couldn’t be more proud of the team. It’s a great day to be a Jayhawk!