For Duncansville resident Amanda Hite and her two young sons, Connor and Evan, the Tuesday night game was a unique treat.

“They actually got to be team captains tonight, so they got to get a tour of the press box and go down and do the first pitch and meet the players, go down in the dugout with the team,” Hite said.

This was her sons’ first time seeing the press box and meeting the players, Hite said, so they were understandably excited.

The Kunzler Honorary Team Captain program is a free-submission lottery that allows kids ages 5 to 13 to get a variety of perks during a specific home game, according to the Curve website.

Curve fans (from left) Colton Wagner of Claysburg, Shawn Hughes and daughter Allie Hughes of Williamsburg and Bentley Prough of Altoona pass around a bag of popcorn. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

Hite said she had been a Altoona baseball fan since the Rail Kings played at Veterans Memorial Field prior to their relocation to Huntingdon, West Virginia, in 1998, and has been going to Curve games with her family since they began the following year.

“We try to make several games a season,” Hite said, adding that they have been to a handful of games already. “Anytime we’re available we come to a game,” she said.

Hite said she hopes the memories her children make at the game will last a lifetime.

“I’m sure this will be a core memory for them to get out on the field and meet the players,” Hite said.

Deanna and Erik Brown have been attending games since the team’s debut season in 1999.

Davanee Anderson, 4, of Cresson shows her autographed baseball to her grandmother Dara Kendara prior to Tuesday’s game. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

“The park is beautiful and it’s a really enjoyable experience, the price is right and we love coming here,” Deanna Brown said. “It’s better than sitting at home watching TV.”

The couple usually drive up from their home in Hollidaysburg to catch four or five games a season on average, she said.

One of her fondest memories at the ballpark was when her granddaughters participated in the toothbrush base-brushing event during a game, Brown said.

The Curve regularly features a variety of intermission activities during games, often featuring audience or sponsor participation and of course, Loco.

“We like Loco, he’s cool,” Brown said, referring to the eponymous “Golden Locotami” that has served as the Curve mascot since 2015.

Amanda Hite of Duncansville photographs her son Connor, 6, at at Tuesday’s Curve game. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

Best entertainment in town

Hal and his brother Thomas Prosser said they have been regulars at PNG Field since 1999, noting that a Curve game is some of the best entertainment in town.

“I really enjoy watching them, it’s boring around here so it’s nice getting to do something like this,” Hal Prosser said. “It’s small-town livin’ so there isn’t much to do.”

Especially not on a Tuesday night, Thomas Prosser added, which is why you can find him situated directly behind home plate watching the game with his brother and daughter, Rachel.

To the Prosser clan, minor-league ball has a distinct appeal compared to major league games. “It’s way more cozy, it’s cool. It’s not 80,000 (fans in the stadium) where you just feel like a number,” Hal and Thomas Prosser said.

Fans being able to walk right up next to the dugout and chat with the players before the game is a benefit of the small-stadium atmosphere, Hal Prosser said.

“You can’t do that anymore … they don’t want you getting that close to the players anymore,” Prosser said, noting that when he grew up in Pittsburgh, this level of player accessibility was more common.

“They’d come right over to you, it was nice,” he said.

Love of the game

Although he lives in Cresson, Tom Cole said he has attended Curve games for more than 15 years.

“I like minor league better than major league because the players are doing it for the love of the game right now,” Tom Cole said.

This up close and personal experience in Minor League Baseball allows fans to see future stars before they make it to a major league team, he said, noting that he saw Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers play at PNG Field before his breakthrough.

Cole said his favorite memory at the Curve was when Matt Fraizer hit a walk-off three run homer in the 10th inning to win the game, and clinch the series against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats on Aug. 30.

Fred and Amy Grenninger have been Minor League Baseball enthusiasts for years, but only attended their first Curve game to catch the opener against the Flying Squirrels.

The Huntingdon couple said that they have gone to a number of minor league games across central Pennsylvania, such as the State College Spikes.

“We used to go to the (Williamsport) Cross Cutters games before State College had a team, because she went to school in Williamsport and I went to school in Montoursville,” Fred Grenninger said.

Small-town baseball has its own charm, Grenninger said.

“I’d rather come here than a major-league park any day,” Grenninger said, “I think these guys try harder and it’s a little bit more exciting because they’re not quite as good yet, but there’s still some very good players.”

Seeing the up and coming players is exciting, Amy Grenninger said.

Aaron Judge, Allen Craig and Jason Motte all got their start in minor league play, Fred Grenninger said, going on to have successful careers in the MLB.

Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Endy Rodriguez started behind the plate for the Curve on Tuesday after being assigned to the Double A-affiliate to heal after reconstructive surgery on his UCL.

“You have a lot more access to the players, they’ll come over and talk to you, which makes it nice, especially for the kids,” he said.

It’s even more exciting if fans watch both Major and Minor League Baseball.

“It’s neat, because here they are and you watch a major league (game) later and it’s like ‘oh, they played for the Curve or they played for the Spikes,'” Amy Grenninger said.

Four-year-old ‘super fan’

Dara Kendera said her granddaughter Davanee Anderson is already one of the Curve’s biggest fans at just 4 years old,

“This is a super fan,” Kendera said, adding that she has been to both Curve and Pirates games in the past year.

Since Anderson’s father is a season ticket-holder for the Curve, her granddaughter gets to attend a lot of games, Kendera said.

Anderson, alongside her sisters Autumn and Jordan, has gotten a chance to meet most of the current and former Curve roster, her grandmother said, including Henry Davis.

She even got to have “a long conversation with Endy (Rodriguez), he’s catching tonight, she was asking him about his boo-boo,” Kendera said. “I couldn’t believe he was so nice.”

This level of interaction with the players is rare outside of minor league baseball.

“During games when they come up to bat, she’d call their names and they’d come give her (a fistbump),” Kendera said. “She was very connected with the team last year, she loves it.”

According to Kendera, one of Anderson’s favorite baseball experiences was when now-Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes gave her his signed, game-worn hat after the Curve beat the RubberDucks to end the 2023 season on a high note in Akron.

“She still talks about that,” Kendera said.

Last chance to catch a game this year

With three games left, there is still time to catch a game this season.

Tonight is FryDay at the Curve, with specialty french fries like Trax Fries, Al Tuna Fries and Rail King Fries. It’s also Horror Night for Friday the 13th. The game starts at 6 p.m.

Saturday’s game, which also begins at 6 p.m., is 2000s night, capped by Kids Run the Bases and a fireworks show.

The 1 p.m. Sunday game, the last of the season, celebrates the 45th anniversary year of the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates World Series championship. Kids 12 and younger can play catch in the outfield for 20 minutes beginning at the time gates open. Baseballs will be provided; kids should bring their own gloves. Space is limited for this special event. After the game, kids 14 and younger are invited to run the bases to help wrap up the season.

Mirror Staff Writer Conner Goetz is at 814-946-7535.