WILMINGTON, NC – The Wilmington Sharks will host “Salute to Sticky Stuff” Night on Thursday, July 1, 2021 per announcement from the club’s front office today.
From pine tar to super glue and everything sticky, adhesive, gummy and outright adherent, the Sharks will celebrate the very things making pitching easier and hitting more difficult in modern baseball.
“With the higher levels of baseball making the battle against pitchers using foreign substances a priority, we thought it would be fitting to celebrate the ordinary, everyday sticky things that make life easier for us all,” explained Sharks Assistant General Manager Nick Carey.
Prior to first pitch, the Sharks plan to give away 250 sticky hand toys to fans of all ages entering the gates, representing the sticky hands pitchers use to doctor the movement of their pitches. Throughout the game, the team will also award randomly selected fans with gift baskets filled with varying, everyday, sticky items including but not limited to velcro, tape, silly putty and honey.
The Sharks front office additionally plans to post a sticky note with the message “Go Sharks!” upon each seat and set of general admission bleachers at Buck Hardee Field.
“Now that the higher leagues are doing more to prevent the use of ‘sticky stuff,’ we thought it might be best to celebrate the ordinary sticky things in life before the preventative measures make their way to us in the CPL,” explained Sharks general manager Allan Lusk.
On the mound, Wilmington is tentatively scheduled to start elusive, three-time college transfer right-hander Lypkyy Lipicios. After his fourth career transfer to a new institution, Lipicios is committed to play for Southwest North Carolina Tech University in Spring 2022. Largely unknown outside of his Eastern European homeland and the three small colleges for which he has previously pitched, Lipicios is reputed to utilize an arsenal of breaking pitches.
“It was pure chance that Lypkyy was available to pitch for the Sharks. With his commitment to his new school, we aren’t sure how many innings we will have his arm for but we are nonetheless excited to welcome him and his repertoire to Wilmington,” added Carey.
The Sharks are scheduled to face the Morehead City Marlins on July 1 with a scheduled first pitch time of 7:05 PM and gates opening at 6:05 PM. Tickets are available at wilmingtonsharks.com and by calling the Sharks front office at 910-343-5621.