For Coyotes Night, Ekman-Larsson had reasons to be nervous for first pitch

Arizona Coyotes defenseman and new team captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson was a part of Coyotes Night at the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Friday night matchup with the Colorado Rockies.

Ekman-Larsson threw out the first pitch, but he had a reason to be much more nervous than most who get the honor. The 27-year-old tweeted after the fact that he had never thrown a baseball prior to Friday.

Threw a baseball for the first time in my life tonight. It went alright… Big thanks to @dbacks for having me. #PlayBall #OurPack pic.twitter.com/7FBra3Kbnn

— Oliver Ekman-Larsson (@OEL23) September 22, 2018

Ekman-Larsson told FOX Sports Arizona he has thrown a tennis ball before and he was nervous, but he did well.

In a not so surprising turn, Ekman-Larsson went for accuracy on his throw, lobbing the pitch into outfielder Patrick Kivlehan.

Perfect strike. 👌🏻 pic.twitter.com/Zz8nxvsjiY

— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) September 22, 2018

For Coyotes Night, the D-backs wore the hockey team’s gear in warmups.

Our pack. #CoyotesNight pic.twitter.com/EoBJHsZFT1

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) September 21, 2018

Ekman-Larsson also got his own jersey for the night.

.@OEL23 in the house. #CoyotesNight pic.twitter.com/9OxLUtq5el

— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) September 22, 2018

There was even a special fly ball challenge.

This fan is on to something here. #CoyotesNight pic.twitter.com/zUelzNZRw4

— FOX Sports Arizona (@FOXSPORTSAZ) September 22, 2018

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