WRITING | will-deboer

WRITING SAMPLES

Baseball Feature

This links to a feature I wrote and produced about a Salisbury University baseball player's experience going viral for his unusual headshots. The story was published on SU media in December 2020.

"If there's one thing Meekins knows, it's how to make an impact, proven by the national fame he garnered last February for his extravagant headshots. The 2020 model featured the Berlin native sporting long hair, a full beard, a handlebar mustache and a monocle. It was the sort of look befitting someone who, after spending all day robbing base hits in center field, would spend his nights raiding corporate rivals and siccing Pinkertons on budding labor leaders."

Excerpt from

"Meekins Reflects on (Hair)Brush with Viral Fame"

December 9, 2020

Baseball Player Profile

This links to a feature profile about former major league pitcher Scott Rice. I interviewed Rice and wrote the story for the Delmarva Shorebirds Silver Anniversary Team series in the spring of 2020.

"So Rice’s baseball odyssey finally came to port after 18 professional seasons. ...He moved back home to Southern California and became a realtor; today he works for Dilbeck Real Estate and cares for sons Adam and Maddox. It’s a life far more stable than the one he spent half his life living, and it brings him deeper appreciation for the nearly two decades he spent in the Delmarvas of the world."

Excerpt from

"Silver Anniversary Team: Scott Rice, Left-Handed Relief Pitcher"

April 2, 2020

Newspaper Editorial

This links to an editorial I wrote about the hiatus of the 2020 baseball season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was published in the Delmarva Daily Times in late March 2020.

"That night, the Delmarva Shorebirds will play baseball again. From a high window just to the left of home plate, I’ll get to watch the game, track it in my score book, relay it to an eager radio audience. ...I’ll see daughters leaning over the railings seeking treasured autographs and sons begging their mothers for one more helmet full of ice cream. I will see the one sport that, more than any, brings people together."

Excerpt from

"Baseball Will Return, and So Shall We"

March 26, 2020

Whimsical Blog Post

This links to a Delmarva Shorebirds-themed spoof of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" I wrote for team blog Around the Roost in December 2019.

One of the most inescapable parts of the holiday season is annual unboxing of every Christmas song you've ever heard. From the parades to the malls to every other radio station, our Decembers are soundtracked by Bing and Mariah and 15 new versions of that Wham song whose lyrics still don't make sense (isn't giving your heart to someone special where the problem started last Christmas, George Michael?).

Excerpt from

"The Twelve Days of Shoremas, Part I"

December 12, 2019

Baseball Press Release

This links to a press release about the promotion of top prospect Adley Rutschman to the Delmarva Shorebirds in August 2019.

"A fixture at the top of nearly every draft board, Rutschman was a near-unanimous projection to go No. 1 overall. The Orioles indeed made him the first pick in the 2019 MLB First Year Player Draft on June 3, Baltimore's first top overall pick since pitcher Ben McDonald in 1989. Rutschman made his professional debut with the GCL Orioles on July 20. Per MLB Pipeline, he currently ranks as the top prospect in the Orioles' system and the No. 6 prospect in all of Minor League Baseball."

Excerpt from

"Rutschman to Join Shorebirds Wednesday"

August 20, 2019

Baseball Recap

This links to a recap of a Delmarva Shorebirds game against the Kannapolis Intimidators in April 2018. The Shorebirds won 4-3 on a walkoff home run by Zach Jarrett.

"After a strikeout, Jarrett came up to face Intimidators reliever Jake Elliott. After fouling off one 0-2 pitch, Jarrett attacked an offspeed offering and cranked it deep to left. Craig Dedelow could only leap to watch it land, and Jarrett rounded the bases to the tune of 3,936 screaming fans, most of them schoolchildren who left with freshly gleaming visions of their new baseball hero."

Excerpt from

"Jarrett Bash on Final Lap Lifts 'Birds Into First"

April 26, 2018

Cross Country Feature

This links to a feature I wrote and produced about a record-setting distance runner for the Maryland Eastern Shore athletics website in February 2017. The piece got picked up by the Delmarva Daily Times four days after original publication.

"The first time he ran, he didn't even have the right shoes. Khalil Rmidi Kinini had followed his older brother Oussama to a road race in their native Spain. Like any little brother, Khalil wanted to do what Oussama, six years his senior, did. Big bro invited him to run in the race as well. Khalil was wearing soccer cleats. He finished second."

Excerpt from

"Rmidi Kinini Wrapping Up 'Once in a Lifetime' Career in Top Form"

February 9, 2017