Jonas Brothers Rock New Britain Stadium

Jonas Brothers' Road Dogs Shutout ESPN's GOATS in Softball Challenge

New Britain, CT - The musical sensation that is the Jonas Brothers came to New Britain Stadium on Friday afternoon and showed more than 7,000 enraptured onlookers that they can play a little softball too. On a mid-August day that featured comfortable temperatures and low humidity, Kevin Jonas led a Road Dogs team over a star-studded cast from nearby ESPN, 3-0.

The game, called the Softball Challenge, was played for charity and took place on a day when the Rock Cats were on the road in Ohio - and the Jo-Bros were looking for a fun workout in advance of their 8:00 PM concert at the Comcast Theater in Hartford. 

The crowd-pleasing competition was provided by a talented squad from ESPN that modestly called itself, "The GOATS." The team name beising an acronym for "Greatest Of All Time," once again showing the creative and good-humored side of the men and women who work at the undisputed "World Wide Leader in Sports" in Bristol.

The Road Dogs, feeding off the crowd's excitement, scored two runs in the first inning and never looked back. While Kevin Jonas swung a mighty bat and tossed the complete game shutout, his brothers Joe and Nick each collected one hit as well. The GOATS got strong performances from leadoff man Nate Ravitz (3 Hits), Mike Greenberg of Mike and Mike in the Morning fame, C Mike Stevens, and Jason Gilbert, who made an outstanding running catch in left field. NFL host Trey Wingo provided entertaining commentary for much of the game, which only added to the afternoon of fun.

In lieu of charging admission, both teams and the Rock Cats requested that fans make a donation to the Connecticut Children's Medical Center's campaign for to build an expanded cancer and blood disorder facility for kids in our state. Called A Brighter Hope, all funds raised in this campaign will help increase the Center's current capacity to serve children with those illnesses. It is hoped that the donations collected will further that most worthy cause. The Jonas Brothers also brought their "X the Text" campaign to the stadium, with the goal of bringing attention to the high number of teen driving-related deaths.

The day kicked off with pre-game concerts by up-and-coming acts, The Burnham Brothers and FYVE. It was the arrival of the Jonas Brothers, however, that was the most anticipated and brought the noise level at the stadium to a possible all-time high, courtesy of thousands of screaming girls. The musical group, who had already put in a morning appearance on Good Morning America in New York, arrived outside the left field wall, where they were greeter by Rock Cats President Bill Dowling, and entered through the visiting bullpen. From that point on, their fans were provided with plenty of photo (and screaming) opportunities as the day included on-field media sessions, batting practice, and the softball game. The Jonas Brothers capped off their on-field duties by posing photos before running along both the first and third base warning tracks to greet quite a few of their devoted fans. With a concert just a few hours away, the Jonas Brothers weren't done yet as they posed for more photos as part of a Meet & Greet session before they finally exited the stadium and boarded a bus to head to Hartford for their concert.

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