GARDEN CITY, Idaho — "Take Me Out To The Ball Game," has stood the challenge of time as one of America's favorite baseball songs, and going to a ball game is fun. But on Friday, May 17, hundreds gathered at Meridian Stadium for a reason greater than just the love of the game.
Since his death, many organizations and businesses have raised funds for the family of fallen Ada County Sheriff's Deputy, Tobin Bolter.
Friday night a rivalry baseball game continued the support.
The Boise Hawks, in partnership with the Ada County Sheriff Employees Association, honored Deputy Bolter. He was shot and killed in the line of duty and then passed away on April 21.
The Hawks are donating half of all ticket sales from the third game of their 2024 Exhibition Series against the Idaho Falls Chukars to the fallen deputy's family. The Chukars and Hawks are in-state rivals in the Pioneer Baseball League.
With historically crowd numbers being higher for Friday night games, and the rivalry between the two teams being popular - event organizers felt like this was the game to honor him, Osbon said.
Deputy Bolter's car, which is wrapped with a photo of him, was on the field as fans arrived.
When asked if the department has decided what they'll do with his car, a spokesperson for the department said they have not made a decision. They'll most likely retire his car and give it to a local school resource officer (SRO), they said.
They want to take the right amount of time to make the right decision, they said.
Ada County Sheriff, Matt Clifford also threw the first pitch at the game.
"I really want the fans to remember that this is a person that signed up knowing that this could happen," Sherif Clifford said. "And Tobin still marched forward in this career full speed."
Nearly a month after his death, Sheriff Clifford said the department is still receiving cards and condolences from the community.
"The outpouring of support from the community has been overwhelming and amazing," Sheriff Clifford said.
The game also fell during national police week.
"National Police Week kind of fell pretty perfectly for us because Tobin's death was not that long ago," Sheriff Clifford said. "So, we were able to come together even closer with other agencies and members of the community to help celebrate everybody in the nation that's lost their life in the line of law enforcement and talk about how it's affected us."
This has been a time where the community has had the departments back and the department will continue to have theirs too, Sheriff Clifford said.
Boise opens the regular season at Idaho Falls on Saturday night, before hosting the Grand Junction Jackalopes for a six-game homestand starting Tuesday, May 21.
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