Brosnahan brothers reunited again

Matt Metcalf, Sports Editor
Posted 5/5/15

There are plenty of things that are more important than sports.

But on Saturday morning, the game of baseball was used to make something much greater occur.

Zachary Brosnahan, a 6-year-old …

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Brosnahan brothers reunited again

Posted

There are plenty of things that are more important than sports.

But on Saturday morning, the game of baseball was used to make something much greater occur.

Zachary Brosnahan, a 6-year-old player at Warwick American Little League, was surprised by his brother, Joey, at the start of his game at Warwick Continental Little League. Joey, who’s 18 years old, is an airman in the United States Air Force and hadn’t seen his brother in seven months.

In a minor league where the coaches typically front toss the ball to the hitters, the moment played out perfectly.

Zachary was penciled in to lead off the top of the first inning, and before he could hit, his coach pulled him into the dugout, giving Joey enough time to go out and kneel in-between the mound and home plate.

At first, Zachary walked up to the plate and didn’t even realize it was his brother. But after Joey took off his sunglasses, Zachary noticed and couldn’t have been happier to see his hero, running and jumping into his arms.

After the two were reacquainted, Zachary stepped back into the batter’s box, where he’d lace a single on the next pitch, putting the finishing touches to an impeccable moment.

Zachary and Joey’s father, John, came up with the idea. After contemplating on how to carry out the sequence of events, John couldn’t have been more pleased with how everything played out.

“We were worried that he was going to freeze because he kind of gets embarrassed sometimes,” John Brosnahan said of Zachary. “It has been a tough seven months. He has missed him quite a bit. He’s just so happy right now – I know he is.”

There was no question that Joey was equally as happy to see his brother.

“It’s definitely a big deal,” Joey Brosnahan said. “He didn’t come down to Texas when I graduated basic – he was the only one that I couldn’t really see. So seven months is a long time without seeing him.”

Over those seven months, Joey Brosnahan has spent stints in Texas and Missouri. He will only be home for two weeks, but plans on making the most of every minute with his family.

“I’m going to do everything I can,” Joey Brosnahan said. “I only have two weeks, so I have to live it up for a little while.”

American and Continental are playing as an unofficial merger this season, so when John saw that the game would be played at Continental, he approached league president Richard Petrarca, who was all for the idea.

“John came up with the idea and wanted to do it on the field, so I said that’s fine and I thought that it was great,” Petrarca said.

Particularly for Zachary’s sake, John isn’t looking forward to Joey leaving again after a short 14 days.

“That’s going to be tough, too,” John Brosnahan said. “He’s at a tough age – that’s his hero. With everything, sports, he has always looked up to him.”

It won’t be easy to say goodbye when Joey’s two weeks are up, but at least Zachary will have Saturday’s moment to hang on to until they meet again.

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  • BobbyTownsend

    Sports always has a way of bringing people together, sometimes when you least expect it. That's what makes it so great and this is a prime example

    Thursday, May 7, 2015 Report this