Father returns from Afghanistan to surprise daughter at the Rays game

Father returns from Afghanistan to surprise daughter at the Rays game
Dan Sullivan
Tampa Bay Times
Times Staff Writer
Thursday, May 16, 2013
ST. PETERSBURG

Alayna Adams was living a dream as she prepared to throw out the first pitch Thursday night before thousands of Tampa Bay Rays fans at Tropicana Field.

Her father, a lieutenant colonel stationed in Afghanistan for most of the past two years, appeared on the stadium video screen. He said hello and told his daughter he would see her soon.

The 9-year-old Dunedin girl launched the ball and watched it bounce across the turf toward home plate.

A man wearing a Rays uniform and a catcher's mask and pads squatted behind the plate. As the ball rolled toward him, he stepped forward and scooped the ball in his glove.

Alayna thought there was something odd about the way he caught the ball. It wasn't quite how a professional ballplayer would do it.

The man at the plate stood and lifted his mask. It was her father, Lt. Col. Will Adams.

She sprinted to him. He swept her into his arms.
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