Some ball games have a flair for the dramatic, and Wednesday night’s matchup between the Carolina Blaze and Portland Cascade was one of them. Not only did the game end in a walk-off, but it also included a romantic public gesture as two fans got engaged.
In a coordinated effort with the Portland in-venue crew, Desi Hollyman proposed to her girlfriend, Julia Luciano, in the sixth inning. Luciano, a Cascade season-ticket member, thought she had been chosen as the fan of the game, but instead, Hollyman was waiting behind her atop the home-team dugout.
Both live in Portland, and Hollyman said that when the Cascade was named the newest pro sports franchise for their city, she got to thinking.
“My girl here is obsessed with softball and has been following Athletes Unlimited for years. And took me to my first game last summer over in Seattle,” Hollyman said.
Luciano is a senior engineer at a sports equipment manufacturer that specializes in baseball and softball bats. She works in the research and development department, testing and developing bats swung by kids in the youth game, by college athletes, and even the pros. Before that, Luciano played four years for the North Dakota State University softball program.
“I always wanted to play softball. That’s the thing I knew the most about myself,” Luciano reflected after the game. “I didn’t know being gay was an option, so I didn’t really think that was part of my future – but I always knew I wanted to play softball. As I grew up, I figured out more things about my life and manifested more things that little kid me didn’t have the room to dream of.”
The proposal also took place on the team’s Pride Night, when the organization recognizes, welcomes, and celebrates the LGBTQ+ community. The stadium erupted when Luciano said yes. The pair came onto the field postgame for photos, where the 16 Cascade players crashed the shoot.
“Now to have a pro team in my backyard is so insane as a softball fan. And then to be proposed to by the woman I love. I didn’t even think that dream was going to be real for me someday,” Luciano said.
Savanna Collins is the Senior Reporter for the AUSL. You can follow her on Instagram @savvyco.
