“I was fist-pumping out in the hallway and then I have to go in, there’s a broadcast, the crowd is there,” Walkingstick, a member of the tribal council, recalled Friday night. “And they weren’t focused on the chief debate. They were focused on Ryan Helsley. He stole our thunder that night. They’re looking at ESPN on their phones, checking if he’s in the game. He’s putting Cherokee Nation on that map again tonight. All eyes were on Helsley.”
Helsley allowed a home run to the first batter he faced — Christian Yelich — but on the final pitch he threw asserted what got him to the majors.