Man is VIP at Braves game

Todd Brantley said his daughter Krista was the lucky one in the house.

Five months after Krista won The Augusta Chronicle's $10,000 Make Kids Count scholarship contest, the 11-year-old "rubbed some luck" his way, he said.

Brantley, a Martinez resident, threw the first pitch and received VIP treatment at the Atlanta Braves game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Aug. 11. He had won the Family Fantasy Day with the Braves contest.

"It was great. It was so much fun," he said. "I just couldn't believe I was there meeting the players. I met the general manager. I never thought a millionaire like that would just come up to me."

Brantley said he entered the contest on a whim when he stopped at the Kroger on Columbia Road one day in July.

"Just went to Western Union (to send) some money, and while I was there, I seen this thing that said Braves Family Fantasy Sweepstakes, so I picked it up and had to send it in the mail to San Francisco," he said.

Because he had to mail the entry form to the West Coast, Brantley said, he thought he would not win.

"They called and said, 'Did you enter the Braves Family Fantasy Sweepstakes?' I didn't pay attention, really, to what I'd entered," he said. "I said, 'Why? What's the catch?' They said, 'No catch, you won.'"

The winning package included 20 VIP luxury-suite tickets, making the honorary first pitch and being named an honorary team captain.

"Me and the captain of the Braves and the captain of the Brewers and all the umpires went to get in a huddle on the home plate, and we'd discuss the game rules," he said. "I don't know what all they were talking about, but it was cool."

He and five friends and family members also met the players, took pictures and received autographs, he said.

Brantley said the suite, which was behind home plate, offered the perfect view and had "all kinds of expensive food and a cooler full of beer."

He said he was ready to deliver the pitch - he had received tips from his neighbor, who played college baseball. They worked on his throws at Patriots Park.

"As soon as I found out, I started practicing. I didn't want to make a fool out of myself," he said.

Brantley said the practice paid off - it was a strike, he said.

He thinks he's partly responsible for the Braves' win that night.

"The Braves won against Milwaukee Brewers - that's because I gave them the luck," he said. "They said, 'That boy can throw a strike and he's a rookie. We got to win this game.'"