By Olivia O’Connell

Staff Writer

NESN invited a Walpole Little League baseball team to the NESN Clubhouse, prior the Red Sox vs Oakland A’s game on Sunday, May 21. The Walpole Astros won this opportunity when Tracy Black, a parent of the Walpole Astros, entered NESN Clubhouse sweepstakes at NESNClubhouse.com. The NESN Clubhouse is an Emmy-award winning Red Sox pre-game television show for kids, hosted by Jahmai Webster and TJ Hourigan on NESN.

“The kids were very excited to hear that they were going to NESN and that they would be on live TV,” said Chuck Meredith, head coach of the Astros.

The NESN Clubhouse airs 90 minutes before every Red Sox game and is aimed to attract a younger audience, such as Little Leaguers who are inspired by these athletes.

At first, the team was not allowed to wear their Astros uniforms due to a restriction from NESN, as they could not wear any MLB team other than the Red Sox; however, thanks to Kevin McDonald, the whole team received new Walpole Little League shirts for the day.

“This was awesome both for the kids to look like a team on camera and visually represent Walpole Little League,” said Meredith.

Rocking their new shirts, the team first filmed the “Spelling Bee” segment of the NESN Clubhouse. The Astros worked together to figure out how spell the word of the day correctly. After that, they set up for the show and acted as the featured studio audience.

As audience members, the team participated in segments such as “Stump Your Parents” and “You Make the Call,” where the kids interacted with players and a variety of Fenway Park workers, such as reporters and Wally The Green Monster.

“Overall it was a great experience individually for each kid and for the team as a whole,” said Meredith.