A contingent from the Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club braved threatening skies to attend the club’s annual outing to Bruno Stadium on Thursday evening for a pavilion picnic and ValleyCats baseball game.

The ‘Cats won, 5-2, on a grand slam home run by first baseman Colton Shaver, appearing in his first game with the team, defeating the visiting Staten Island Yankees who lead one of the New York-Penn League’s three divisions.

Several youngsters were selected to throw ceremonial “first pitches” before the game, among them Jim Leyhane’s grandson Ryan Malone, who looked particularly strong given the distance from mound to home plate in the professional game is 60 feet compared to the 46-foot Little League distance he is used to.

Here are a few scenes from the evening, courtesy of Bill Dowd, Terry Brewer, and Roberto Martinez.

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