By Sydney Ochoa
One Holly Springs baseball team has adopted the tradition of blending an additional level of entertainment into their game, and the crowd is eating it up. The Trash Pandas are a team of 7–8-year-olds from Holly Springs who decided their team should embrace an important part of baseball culture — the walkout song.
Walkout songs, which are played when batters approach the plate, are an important part of a player’s identity. These songs allow players to add their personality to the atmosphere and connect with fans. The tradition of using music in baseball dates back to the early 1900s, when organ music was frequently played to entertain the crowd. The concept of personalizing entrance music started to take off in the 1960s within wrestling and boxing, and by the 1980s, organists at baseball games began playing more modern and popular tunes as players approached the plate.
Head coach John McDougall credits assistant coach Brett Dublick for coming up with the idea for players to have their own walkout songs, which is a first in his 15 years of coaching youth sports. The coaches thought the kids could use a bit more “swagger” on the field, so Coach Dublick sent out a message asking all the kids to choose their song, and this new tradition was born.
In professional baseball, each player’s walkout song highlights their personality — and that is no different with the Trash Pandas. Each player selected their own song, and the reasons behind the decision differed for each. Number 5 Tyler Dublick walks out to “AOK” by Tai Verdes, which is the same song his favorite player, Philadelphia Phillies second basemen Bryson Stott, walks out to.
Other members of the team selected their song with help from family. Like #12 Ben Ficke who originally selected a Dropkick Murphys song as his walkout song before switching to “Du hast,” a song by German rock band Rammstein. Being that his new walkout song is entirely in German, I was intrigued to learn how it was selected. Ben’s dad explained that they were listening to one of his playlists when the song came on and Ben said, “I want this as my walkout song!” Ben was nice enough to reenact the hand movements he used during his walkout, and I can certainly see why he was inspired to make the choice.
Number 1 Sean Markowkin walks out to “Dynamite” by AC/DC, a song he heard his grandmother play. Sean’s favorite game of the season was when the other team didn’t show up and the Pandas played a scrimmage game for fun.
Number 7 Grayson Davis picked his song from a Spider-Man movie; he walks out to “Start a Riot” by Duckwrth & Shaboozey. When I asked Grayson what his favorite game from the season was, his answer highlighted what type of team the Trash Pandas are. Grayson said his favorite game was when they played a team that was better than the Pandas, because he was able to learn from them.
In describing his team, Coach McDougall shared something even more special than the walkout songs. He said that “something special that sets our team apart is that we include every parent that wants to help out. Sharing the field or dugout with a parent is a memory that the kids will always have. If a parent wanted to help, there was a spot for them. And it wasn’t just dads — moms and grandparents helped on the field and in the dugout as well!”
Ben Ficke’s dad echoed this sentiment. He told me about one game when there were seven parents out on the field. He added, “When you have that type of buy-in from the parents, and they’re all involved, the kids feel it.”
Coach McDougall also noted the importance of youth sports in the community. “We are so lucky to have such a robust Parks and Rec. program, but that doesn’t happen without strong support from the town and the community. The parents’ financial contribution to play town sports is minimal. To keep it affordable, the Parks and Rec. department needs a healthy budget from the town council and hundreds of volunteers from the community to make the program work. As a coach for 15+ years, I have had the pleasure of seeing some of those kids go on to play Division I and Division II sports, so I have seen first-hand how important it is for there to be accessible and affordable youth sports.”
The use of walkout songs seems to be the icing on the cake for this special team of players and parents. Here is the full roster of Trash Panda players and their walkout songs for you to add to your playlist!
Sean Markowkin, #1, “Dynamite” by AC/DC
Hunter Stiling, #2, “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC
Kenan Prince, #3, “Hootsforce” by Glory Hammer
Teddy George, #4, “Astronaut in the Ocean” by Masked Wolf
Tyler Dublick, #5, “AOK” by Tai Verdes
Elijah Powell, #6, “Move” by Thousand Foot Krutch
Grayson Davis, #7, “Start a Riot” by Duckwrth & Shaboozey
Brayden Hoffman, #8, “Hero” by Foo Fighters
Carter Hoffman, #9, “Believer” by Imagine Dragons
Leo Flores, #10, “Thunder” by Imagine Dragons
Oliver Wood, #11, “When I Grow Up” by NF
Ben Ficke, #12, “Du hast,” by Rammstein
