Giving the Gift of Flight
September 17, 2010 - Golden Baseball League (GBL)
Tucson Toros News Release
Tucson, AZ - The Tucson Toros wrapped up their 2010 regular season by giving the gift of flight during a one of a kind promotion in which the team partnered with local non-profit organization Wright Flight to give away a Cessna 150 airplane to a lucky Toros fan. Mieko Ochoa tossed the most accurate throw that struck a façade of the plane positioned over homeplate during the Toros final game of the season on September 4th.
Mieko, a native of Japan, and her husband Don learned about the unique promotion earlier in the season on a Fireworks Friday when the couple was intrigued by the sight of an aircraft adoring the concourse at Hi Corbett Field amongst the concession stands and team shop. The two registered at Guest Relations and later that night Mieko was chosen as a pre-qualifier, with a chance to win the plane and the opportunity to view the night's fireworks spectacular from above in a guided plane similar to the one on display. Mieko did not suspect it at the time, but the night would prove to be the first step in her journey to become an aviator herself.
In preparation for the Pitch for a Plane contest, the couple would go to the baseball fields at Windmill Park where Mieko would stand on the mound and throw practice pitches to Don at homeplate. The scene was recreated with the addition of a few thousand supportive fans during Tucson's final home game of the year. Mieko was one of nine pre-qualifiers who each had a chance to throw. With the crowd cheering, the lefthanded thrower who considers the canon-armed Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners as her favorite Major Leaguer lofted an arching pitch that struck the airplane façade just to the left of the cutout opening for the cockpit. Despite the strong efforts of a few other contestants after her, Ochoa become the owner of her very own airplane when the contest ended with her pitch still standing as the most accurate.
"I was just so surprised and excited," said Mieko Ochoa when asked to reflect on the moment of victory. "Even now, I still can't believe that I won the plane!"
The prize also included flight lessons from Wright Flight instructors, which Mieko will begin in November. Wright Flight was founded in 1986 in Tucson, AZ by Robin Stoddard with the goal of using the motivational power of aviation as a stimulus for students to set and achieve higher goals in their educational and personal development. Kids from the 4th through 12th grades who pledge to not use drugs, avoid gangs and improve their grades in school are treated with enrollment into one of the program's fight education classes taught by volunteer pilots. The program has expanded to include Chapters in Phoenix, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont, Kansas, Missouri, Massachusetts and Florida with over 10,000 kids involved since its inception.
Golden Baseball League Stories from September 17, 2010
- Giving the Gift of Flight - Tucson Toros
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