During each Friday night home game, the Cape Cod Baseball League honors military or first responder as the Massachusettes State Lottery ‘Hero of the Game’. Major Corrie Mays from Marstons Mills was Friday night’s hero.

“It’s an incredible honor, not only to be the one selected, but also to be able to represent the rest of the first responders and veterans and military members out there,” Mays said. “There are so many people doing great things every day across all the services of first responders and military branches. So just to be able to represent that is really special, here in my hometown as well.”

Major Mays was selected to fly the F/A-18 fighter jet out of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, in California where she went on to complete one deployment to the Western Pacific and another combat deployment to the Middle East.

“I was in college when 9/11 happened, and that was a really big motivator for me,” Mays said. “I was a junior when that happened, and I was getting ready to think about what the next steps would be.”

Initially, her next step was to continue pursuing her college degree, and forgo joining the military. This decision was short-lived, wanting to move on to something that felt like it had more meaning.

“I did three years as a civilian, it just still wasn't as fulfilling for me at the end of each day,” Mays said. “So I knew I still had that itch that I needed to scratch and I decided I wanted to be a Marine Corps officer. That was it, and I never looked back.”

Upon return from her combat deployment in 2014, she was then selected for the United States Navy Blue Angels to serve as Blue Angel #8. During her career, Major Mays accumulated nearly 1,000 flight hours and earned various unit and personal awards.

“It was totally worth at the end of each day, because with every hard time comes so many other gratifying and rewarding times,” Mays said.

Her family was a host family for over 10 years for the Hyannis Mets, sometimes even hosting up to four players at once, at one time including Boston Red Sox Legend Jason Varitek. This wasn’t where the support of the Harbor Hawks stopped for Mays, with her family also working in the snack shack at McKeon Park growing up.

“[The Harbor Hawks] are very much a part of our family, and all of the players who stayed with us,” Mays said. “It’s really great to be here. It seems like forever ago, but when I come here, it feels like it was yesterday.”

She now lives in Marstons Mills with her husband and two young children, and continues to serve as a Major in the United States Marine Corps Reserves.

“We stand on the shoulder of giants, and that's like a cliche saying maybe for some, but it honestly is [true], when you learn about the history of, for me, the Marine Corps, and everyone who had worked so hard before me,” Mays said. “I know how hard all of us in my units were working together to complete the mission … that makes it all worth it.”

Mike Maynard can be reached at mikemay62@gmail.com and followed on Twitter/X @mikecmaynard.