Diamond Hogs Visit Omaha Children’s Hospital

Wednesday in Omaha, the Diamond Hogs took some time away from practice for Thursday’s game to, in Head Coach Dave Van Horn’s words, ‘lift up some kids.’

The team spent part of the morning at Omaha Children’s Hospital.

“It’s a great experience,” said Van Horn. “I think it’s a really good experience for our players to be around this type of environment, just to realize how fortunate that we all have it.”

The break from the ball field game the team a chance to ‘give back’ to the area they’ve called home over the last several days.

“I’ve been told that this was something that these kids really appreciate, that athletes come by and saying hi to them and lift them up a little bit, and I thought this would be good for our players,” said Van Horn.

On the eve of the biggest game in most of these guys’ careers, the visit reminds everyone just what place sports has in the culture.

“Getting the opportunity to come here definitely puts everything into perspective,” said Junior RHP DJ Baxendale. “It lets us know that this is just a game and that we should play it as a game and have fun.”

The kids also served as inspiration to the team.

“For them to be going through what they’re going through and to still have a smile on their face, I mean it’s amazing,” said Arkansas senior Bo Bigham. “Some of us, we get mad if we have a bad game, but these guys, every day they wake up, they love life and they just cherish every second.”