What an incredible summer of baseball! The highlight: the 2015 edition of the Friendship Series. The USA Baseball Collegiate National Team once again played host to the Cuban National Team July 1-6. It was the first time the Cuban team had been back to the States to play since 2013. If you need a refresher about how incredibly epic of a series that was, you can check it out here. So as you can imagine, I was anxiously awaiting Cuba’s arrival all spring.
The gear is ready. The lineups are made… Let’s play ball!
The CNT pitching staff dominated game 1. Tanner Houck, A.J. Puk and Ryan Hendrix pitched a combined no-hitter against Cuba. It was an impressive start to the series for Team USA.
CNT outfielder Cory Ray made this young fan’s day before game 2 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
We saw lots of great action over the course of the week. Diving plays, run downs… you name it, chances are we saw it.
BB&T Park in Charlotte played host to the Friendship Series for Fourth of July. It was the first time I had been to BB&T. Man, what a backdrop!
I loved the shirts these kids were wearing.
The bats brought home the Fourth of July win for Team USA, with an 11-1 rout over Cuba. The night ended with an amazing fireworks display. 
Cuba would take games three and five of the series with some timely hitting and solid defensive plays.
This was my favorite photo from that week. To me, it illustrates what makes this series so special. No matter our backgrounds or differences, baseball is a sport that brings us together. We share that bond, that passion.
