By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Savannah native and Northwest Missouri State Bearcat Noah Bodenhausen is in his third season as a St. Joseph Mustang, and this one will no doubt be his most memorable.
Bodenhausen proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Josie, at Phil Welch Stadium on June 24 following the team's 11-2 win over Des Moines.
Bodenhausen decided the postgame fireworks was the best time to do it.
"I figured I had a unique opportunity to do it, because I play on the Mustangs," Bodenhausen said. "I wanted to incorporate some of the guys into it. I figured, what better time to do it than the fireworks?"
Bodenhausen has also had a memorable season on the field. The second baseman is batting .303 and has scored 20 runs on 23 hits, including a 12th inning walk-off single in Thursday's 7-6 win over Clarinda at Phil Welch Stadium.
Bodenhausen has also recorded 11 double plays in the field.
Thursday's win put St. Joseph back in first place in the MINK League North Division at 22-11 overall.
Having won MINK League championships in each of his first two years with the Mustangs, Bodenhausen says this year's team just needs to take things one game at a time.
"I'm glad we're in an opportunity to win the division again," he said. "We need to play well and hopefully just keep first place."
The Mustangs just wrapped up a memorable homestand which incorporated a holiday weekend, a lot of fireworks and a lot of wins.
The Mustangs played six home games from June 30 - July 7. The team went 5-1 in that stretch, and had over 3,700 fans in attendance during the Fourth of July game against Sedalia.
Bodenhausen says games like those are what make summers at Phil Welch Stadium so special.
"The fan support is great," he said. "You get to play in front of a lot of fans and there's cool events and stuff happening all of the time. It's really a cool place to be. There's great energy here."
The Mustangs' scheduled game at Des Moines Friday has been postponed due to weather. The team is back home Saturday to face Jefferson City on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Friday's game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Tuesday, July 11.
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.