By Kay Quinn

St. Louis (KSDK) - It was a night to remember for a 9-year-old Park Hills boy at Busch Stadium.

Ethan Gammon threw out the first pitch before Tuesday night's Cardinals game.

It was arranged by friends after Ethan lost his dad in March.

Andy Gammon, 35, was working on the new Mississippi River Bridge March 29 when he fell to his death.

Andy never had a chance to take his son Ethan to a game, so friends made sure the fourth grader would have a baseball memory to last a lifetime.

Ethan, threw out the first pitch like a pro at Busch Stadium.

Friends of his late father raised $2,500 and placed the highest bid in a "First Pitch" auction on KFMO radio Friday. That winning bid sent Ethan to the mound.

In the stands hundreds of friends from the Gammon's St. Francois County community were there as part of a United Way night at the game.

Ethan Gammon, 9-year-old
"I was really nervous and when I got up there. I didn't think about the wind-up, no I'm not going to do that but I just threw it and it bounced and got to him," said Ethan.

"Means a lot to him, means a lot to me, and it just shows the kids that life goes on and we'll miss daddy every day but we can still have memories without him," said Ethan's mom, Tracy Gammon.

Ethan said he practiced a lot over the weekend to get the throw just right, and that ball he was holding is something you know he'll hold onto for the rest of his life. 

KSDK