A Memory for a lifetime at Midway

For years, Max Onkst could picture exactly how it would look.

It would be a pitch over the plate, followed by a clean swing and the ball rising into the summer sky at Midway and never coming back.

Monday night, after more than a decade of dreaming about it, Onkst finally lived it.

The Triple C Nursery slugger crushed a pitch over the deepest part of the park in straightaway center field, then lifted his fists as he watched it clear the fence. The long-awaited blast sent him into a home-run trot and gave him a memory he'll carry long after his days at Midway are over.

For lifelong Midway players, that first home run feels like a rite of passage. Several in the league, including some of his teammates, have made their history. On Monday, it was Onkst’s time to shine and realize a dream that started when he was a little kid showing up at Midway for the first time.

Like hundreds of Warren County youngsters before him, Onkst grew up on the hallowed fields out in the cornfields. He started in T-ball as a Seedling and Sprout - sponsored by Rickey Hildreth Farms - before later suiting up for Belk Grocery and Bell and Sons Nursery. Now, Onkst anchors the middle of the Triple C Nursery lineup in the Senior Boys League.

Each summer brought him a little closer.

The fly balls that once settled into outfield gloves started reaching the gaps. Doubles turned into triples, triples occasionally became inside-the-park home runs and Onkst realized the moment was approaching. As he got older and stronger, the dream that once seemed impossible started feeling attainable.

Still, clearing the fence at Midway remained unfinished business - Until Monday.

Onkst stepped into the batter's box and got the pitch he wanted. The echo off the metal bat told the story immediately. Outfielders turned and sprinted toward the fence, but their chase was hopeless.

The ball kept carrying. . . and carrying . . . and carrying.

Once it left, Onkst’s pursuit of a Midway home run that had lasted 13 years was finally over.

The celebration didn't fully hit until after the game when a young fan tracked down the ball and returned it to him. And now, maybe that kid will start their own dreams about hitting one over the fence someday too.

Onkst knows exactly how that feels - he has the ball to prove dreams really can come true at Midway.