The week leading up

The week before the games, things almost went awry for Perez. The team played in Scranton, PA, the weekend before, and the final game of the series almost got rained out, which would’ve pushed the game to Sunday. That would have thrown a major wrench into Perez’s plans for the week.

Luckily, the weather held off, the game was played, and Perez was able to touchdown in Savannah, GA, on Sunday night. From there, Perez and her wife packed up the car immediately and drove through the night for 18 hours to get to Corpus Christi.

When she arrived, the chaos continued when she learned that the Banana Ball pop-up camp that was scheduled was not yet filled up. The camp allows kids to learn the game and hang out with the players. Perez sent a text message to local little leagues and the camp was sold out within hours.

It was bittersweet, because she was able to bring the little league she played in as a kid to the camp, underscoring how tied in the week was for her. She was able to see many of the guys she played with in growing up, plus their kids.

During the week, Perez also visited the firehouse she retired from, Station 7, and, through a partnership with grocery store H-E-B to provide $1,000 worth of groceries to the firefighters.

Additionally, at Station 7, there was an old barbecue pit that Perez’s brother built for the crews. While sharing the idea of bringing it to Savannah one day, one of the coaches from The Tailgaters talked with H-E-B and worked out a deal to donate a new barbecue pit to the station so that Perez could take home the old one. H-E-B also donated a new grill to the station.

For the H-E-B event, Perez brought along Marshall Shill, one of her players who continually seeks out fire department visits to get a better grasp of what goes on inside the fire service.

“It was cool because most of the time when we do these visits, it’s usually like the higher-ups, captains or chiefs giving us a tour,” Shill told Firehouse. “But what was really cool is that we were able to sit back and let Val be the one to give us the tour.”

Perez showed some of her teammates around the station, where she started training for the U.S. Women’s Baseball Team: throwing medicine balls against the wall, doing glove work, and working out.

“We were able to slow down and hear the stories about Val,” Shill recalled. “Just hearing all the stories about Val, how much of a worker she was and, of course, funny and embarrassing stories.”

Throughout the week, she saw so many people who influenced her from high school coaches, high school classmates, family and friends. Bringing the weekend’s games full-circle, Perez was a part of opening day of Whataburger Field in 2005 when she worked on the gameday staff as a college student.

“Bringing Banana Ball back to Whataburger Field and showing everybody what we love and care about, particularly in the fire department,” Perez said, reflecting on the weekend. “Showing people the reason why I retired, because without Banana Ball, I wasn’t retiring. I loved what I did in Corpus. I loved what I did in my fire department. It was one of the busiest weeks of my life, but it was worth every minute.”

Pregame brought local honors

For every single game, The Firefighters honor the firefighter of the night, and Perez had a big say in who was going to be showcased for each game in her hometown.

One night, Brandon Lott, who was Perez’s captain, was honored. Perez refers to Lott as the one who has gotten the closest look into everything from her fire service career to her baseball and Banana Ball career. He was Perez’s captain for her last six years in the service, saw the birth of her son and transferred stations with her.

“She amazes me in everything that she does, and I’m just proud of her,” Lott told Firehouse. “She’s family. Watching her transition to that leader, I did not doubt that she could do it. It just surpassed anything I could imagine.”