Cole Carrigg Hits Second Career Home Run in Las Vegas
Cole Carrigg hit his second career home run on Friday in Las Vegas, and the blast came in the first weekend after his MLB debut. The Rockies outfielder did it with Tyler Soderstrom stationed in left field for the Athletics, turning a routine early-series meeting into a rare major league reunion.
Carrigg and Soderstrom in Las Vegas
Both players are 24 and both grew up in Turlock, where they met in seventh grade and played together at Turlock High School from 2018 to 2020. They then shared the diamond in all three games of the Rockies’ three-game series against the Athletics from Friday to Sunday at Las Vegas Ballpark.
Carrigg learned of his promotion last Sunday, then made his highly anticipated MLB debut on Tuesday in Denver. Four days later, he was back on a big-league field across from the same teammate he had not seen on the same diamond since high school.
After Friday’s game, Carrigg and Soderstrom embraced and talked near home plate, then exchanged jerseys and posed for a photo. Their parents were in Las Vegas too, along with Carrigg’s brother Matt and Soderstrom’s wife Bailey, giving the matchup a family backdrop that matched the local one.
Friday's 90 mph cutter
The home run itself came in a tight spot. Carrigg pulled a 90 mph cutter 450 feet to right center field in the sixth inning with two outs and two runners on, flipping the Rockies from a 2-1 deficit into the game’s sharpest swing.
Justin Sterner was the righty reliever on the mound when Carrigg connected, and the Athletics still closed out a 6-4 win. Carrigg said, “Tyler was pretty quick picking up the line,” a small detail that fit the larger night: one former high school teammate tracking another while the game kept moving around them.
Two Turlock paths
The postgame quotes matched the setting. Carrigg said, “To be with him in the bigs now, and the fact that we’re playing each other this weekend, it’s super special. We dreamed of this for so long. I haven't been on the same field with him since high school. I wouldn't wish it any other way. It has just been crazy and surreal to be here, living out these moments that I’ve worked so hard for for such a long time.”
Soderstrom called the timing “unreal” and added, “I don’t think I have a whole grasp on it right now. Living in this moment is super special. We had this dream of playing in the big leagues, and I think we just willed it, manifested it and made it happen together. Now it’s paying off here where we’re sharing these moments this weekend together. To take a step back and realize what is happening after all the work we put in makes me super proud. I think we’re both super proud of each other.”
For Carrigg, the weekend started with a phone call after the promotion and ended with a homer in front of his family and the family of the player he grew up with. That is the part that stays with this story: not just a debut, but a first weekend in the majors that already included a home run, a reunion and three straight games against the same childhood teammate.
