RU President Prepares for Royals First Pitch — With Help from Some Hawks

Wednesday, Sept. 6, will be the first official Rockhurst Night at Kauffman Stadium, complete with a tailgate, a custom RU/Royals jersey for those purchased special tickets, and a night at the historic Kauffman Stadium watching the Royals alongside fellow Hawks.

For Rockhurst University President Sandra Cassady, Ph.D., it’ll also mean getting out on the field, at least for pregame activities. With the focus on RU for the night, it only made sense for someone from the University to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Cassady got the first call. It was not a hard decision.

“It took me about five seconds to say yes,” she said.

It might be the first time a sitting Rockhurst University president has thrown out a first pitch at a Kansas City Royals game. And, it tuns out, this is something of a dream come true for Cassady, who said she is a baseball lover and grew up playing the game.

“I played girls little league in the state of Wisconsin,” she said. “And I grew up in a neighborhood of mostly boys. So, I learned how to play baseball.”

While there are some great first pitches, there are also some infamous misses — Kansas City Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce, as elite an athlete as any, is a recent example. So Cassady said she has been preparing — at a local park with her husband Ray and, on Wednesday, with Patrick Wind, a catcher for the Hawks baseball team. Wind, who said he has caught a ceremonial first pitch before (it rolled to the backstop), said it’s not as easy as it looks. Even for the catcher.

“There’s almost more pressure, because you really want to be able to catch it and have that moment,” he said.

For the actual first pitch Sept. 6, when Hawks starting catcher Hoyt Bennett will be her battery mate, Cassady said she is trusting her four-seam fastball. It’s a good approach, Wind said.

“Just relax, I would say, and go for a strike,” he said. “Go out there like you’re playing catch.”

Cassady said she’s excited for Rockhurst to get the spotlight throughout the game and excited to celebrate with alumni, families and students.

“And I’m really thrilled that I get to have a Rockhurst catcher out there with me,” she said.

More information about the Rockhurst Night at the K is available here (the deadline to purchase tickets through Rockhurst has passed, but tickets to the game are still available through the Royals ticket site), and a small number of tickets will be available for free to students on a first-come, first-served basis at the Student Activities Fair Thursday.