17 Year U.S. Navy Veteran Fulfills Lifelong Dream, Plays Division I Baseball
After 17 long years of serving this great nation in the U.S. Navy, Brian Holcomb fulfilled his lifelong dream of playing college ball. Holcomb, a member of the Wounded Warrior Project, was cleared to play by the NCAA back in March. The NCAA doesn’t get much right, but this was one of the few exceptions where even those soulless, money-grubbing bastards couldn’t fuck up such a great story.
The 34-year-old was finally given the nod by Jacksonville University manager Tim Montez and took the mound yesterday against Georgia Southern.
From NCAA.com:
An amped Holcomb he delivered the first pitch strike to opposing batter Kody Adams. The Mason, Michigan native dealt the sidearm delivery fastballs and in the 2-2 count, Adams would pull the ball into right field for a leadoff single.
Montez would come out, salute and take the ball from Holcomb after the first batter, and the crowd and his teammates gave a hand and embraced the teammate and inspiration for all.
Awesome, awesome moment. Sure, he let up a hit to the only batter he faced, but this is one of those occasions where the game itself was far less important.
Holcomb was a stud pitcher back in high school, going 4-1 with a 1.90 ERA his senior season, but rather than moving onto the next level, he decided to dedicate his life to the freedom of this country. That’s a special type of individual. Selfless beyond words.
I fully expect to see a Tom Rinaldi SportsCenter segment covering this in the coming weeks..
[via NCAA.com]
Image via Youtube
The armed forces are the greatest fraternity of all.
10 years ago at 12:03 pmProud to be in one of the greatest fraternity’s of all and that is the U.S Navy. HOOYAH boys.
10 years ago at 12:28 pmI love articles like this. I can’t wait to start Basic training in June! Go Navy!
10 years ago at 1:51 pmMOS?
10 years ago at 1:58 pmIf your commissioning, look into the Marine Option. We have the best pilots, the hardest fighters, and the biggest egos. Not to mention, the best combat arms the US military has to offer.
10 years ago at 2:35 pmUnsubstantiated egos TUSMCM
10 years ago at 2:52 pmAs for pilots it depends on what field of battle you’re talking about. Saying ya’ll have the best pilots is comparing apples to oranges. Hardest fighters?DEVGRU (NAVY) over any MARSOC battalion. But at least you have that ego right? Hooyah CRS4.
10 years ago at 3:13 pmHaving controlled AF, USN, and USMC fixed wing, Marine AND navy pilots were the best, and obviously I’m biased to Marine CAS over Navy any day.
10 years ago at 6:10 pmYou ATC?
10 years ago at 6:30 pmANGLICO.
10 years ago at 11:43 pmYou sound like a fucking boot
10 years ago at 4:26 pmdon’t even try to start a branch war right now man. wrong time and place
10 years ago at 5:01 pmWho the fuck is starting a branch war? I just presented another option, I didn’t say the army sucks, or the air force is gay. Don’t be so sensitive about it.
10 years ago at 6:08 pmChair Force?? Pussies. Rah Marines.
10 years ago at 7:17 pmThere’s a reason Marines guard the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, boot.
10 years ago at 7:18 pmTry that again – it’s members of the 3rd Infantry Regiment (Army). Fucking clown.
10 years ago at 7:28 pmI had an extremely aggressive, hateful, and demoralizing reply typed out regarding your post, but I’m still trying to acclimate to civilian life and decided to scale it back. Go fucking haze yourself. You’re going to tell me you have your name as Marine Corps and your picture as Sgt Maj Dan Daly, one of two Marines to receive the Medal of Honor twice, and don’t know that the Army guards the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier? If you don’t know how to haze yourself, thanks to mothers against america, let me know, I have more games than Milton Bradley. Don’t you ever make Marines look fucking stupid again.
10 years ago at 7:42 pmyou sound like an NCO who perfected the art of wall to wall counseling. fucking outstanding.
10 years ago at 9:18 pmPoorly received sarcasm about branch rivalry champ, saw someone on this app saying “the old guard” fucked up when saluting Obama getting off Air Force One and was referencing his avatar. After OCS last summer I know a couple fuck fuck games too champ. Don’t get your jimmies too rustled.
10 years ago at 9:54 pmI don’t hate you, I hate your ignorance. I always preached knowledge is power, no matter how irrelevant. You should take this as a learning experience by having a deficiency corrected through the eyes of a junior Marine, mildly I might add. Also, the combination of OCS and last summer lead me to believe otherwise. Semper Fi and good luck, 5 years was enough for me.
10 years ago at 10:47 pmTrust me, if someone knows who Daly is they know who guards the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I’m going to Afghanistan in a few months here now. Thank you for your service, may God have mercy on our souls.
10 years ago at 11:21 pmWith your shit attitude, I doubt you had a choice to go past 5 years. Me telling someone to think about the Marine Option and making a joke about why they should consider it doesn’t make me a “boot.” Pull your head out of your ass, and stop embarrassing us.
10 years ago at 12:12 amToo much internet badassery. Be safe brothers.
10 years ago at 12:58 amMy brother was actually in 4th anglico for a little bit after he was done his active contract. Think another buddy was/is in 5th, haven’t talked to him in years tho. I’m just saying, that comment could rock a high and tight and I wouldn’t be surprised. Could’ve reenlisted no problem, instead went on 61 days of terminal(recommend that) and school, haven’t looked back.
10 years ago at 8:04 amGod bless him and America’s Passtime!
10 years ago at 2:51 pmI fully expect to never see a Tom Rinaldi SportsCenter cover of this.
But don’t worry, we’ll get plenty of stories about Floyd Mayweather’s cars, the trials and tribulations of Jameis Winston struggling through adversity, and that girl little league pitcher who was kind of okay.
You know, the important stuff.
10 years ago at 1:28 am