Saturday night's for baseball and wrestling at Fitton Field

WORCESTER — Chris Dijak will gather with family and friends to celebrate the fifth birthday of his daughter on the afternoon of July 26.

After Amelia opens presents, blows out candles and consumes cake, her dad will head to work.

“I’m going to be spending Saturday celebrating my daughter’s birthday and then heading to the wrestling show at the baseball stadium,” said Dijak a 2005 Lunenburg High graduate who resides in Brookline, New Hampshire, with his wife, Ashley, and their children, Connor, 7, and Amelia. “So that’s kind of a fun thing."

A wrestling show at a baseball stadium?

Lunenburg native, former WWE star Chris Dijak shifts gears, wrestles around the world

Nothing unusual there as the 6-foot-8, 265-pound Dijak, a former member of the WWE platform who now wrestles on the independent circuit, has performed at LeLacheur Park in Lowell and Maimonides Park on Coney Island among other fields of dreams.

Only this time, Donovan Dijak — as he’s known in the ring — will face Spencer Slade, a hearing-impaired pro from Pennsylvania, in a special challenge main event while a baseball game is being played at Fitton Field.

Welcome to Basebrawl!

“I think it’s going to be the perfect venue for this,” said Caleb Seltzer, the promotor/executive producer of Marlborough-based Rebel Spirit Pro Wrestling, which is putting on a show that features a large and talented cast.

“Basebrawl. The first time ever that I can think of that wrestling and baseball are taking place simultaneously on the same night in the same venue. So I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

The Futures League-leading Worcester Bravehearts will play second-place Vermont in a marquee matchup beginning at 6:30 p.m. Wrestling will take place under the event tent in the left field pavilion and is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.

Never the twain shall meet?

“If there’s a regulation game going on when there’s professional wrestling happening within yards of it, I wouldn’t put it past anybody to see some action actually spilling out onto the field,” Seltzer enthusiastically said, sounding all the world like a carnival barker.

One rumor gaining traction is a showdown/slamdown between mascot rivals Jake the Lion of the Bravehearts and the evil Twister of the defunct Worcester Tornadoes.

Again, never say never when it comes to pro wrestling.

“The mascots have some heat, and I think they finally have a venue to settle their score once and for all on the 26^th,” Seltzer slyly and succinctly said.

As for Dijak, he wasn’t making any predictions other than the show “will definitely be a spectacle.”

And don’t expect to see him taking batting practice with the Bravehearts even though he’s a terrific athlete.

Dijak, 38, played baseball when he was a tween and even drew the attention of the late Ron Lamothe, the Blue Knights Hall of Fame coach, when he was in eighth grade.

But he opted to follow in the athletic footsteps of his big brother and role model, Jason, a 2002 LHS grad, once he got to high school and became a three-sport athlete in football, basketball and track.

“Probably more than any other sport I played, there is a precision to baseball in terms of hand-eye coordination (I don’t quite have),” Dijak said. “I don’t think I missed my calling or anything by throwing the shot put and discus instead.

“But, yeah, I’ve always loved baseball and enjoyed the sport. I was a huge Red Sox fan growing up.”

Dijak went on to play football and basketball for four years each at Bridgewater State, from which he graduated with bachelor's and master’s degrees in criminal justice. He became a pro wrestler in 2013, signed with WWE four years later and remained with the organization until his release 13 months ago.

Sometimes a good guy and other times a villain, Dijak is always a road warrior as an independent showman. He found himself in Chicago, Louisville and Atlanta a couple of weekends ago and earlier this year in New Delhi, India, following an 18-hour plane ride.

So wrestling close to home for the likes of Rebel Spirit Pro Wrestling, Lucky Pro Wrestling and Beyond Wrestling is understandably welcome.

“I’ve really been all over the world this year, so anytime I have the opportunity to wrestle five minutes down the road in front of my kids, that’s what I love to do,” Dijak said.

Tickets, which include admission to Fitton Field for both the baseball game and wrestling show, start at $22 and can be purchased at rebelspiritpro.com and worcesterbraveheartsstore.com.

—Contact Rich Garven at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @RichGarven.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: 'PLAY BRAWL!': Fitton Field wrestling card features Lunenburg's Chris Dijak