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York woman sings national anthem at Phillies game


Caroline Newberger, stage name Caroline Rose, sings at San Francisco Giants at Philadelphia Phillies game.

Caroline Newberger got the call of a her dreams Monday.

The 23-year-old York woman has performed the national anthem at several York Revolution baseball games.

A year ago, she sent in a recording of her singing the national anthem to the Philadelphia Phillies. She never heard back.

Until Monday. The Phillies' scheduled singer had to cancel, and it was Newberger's chance to step up to the plate.

She and three friends went to Citizens Bank Park to watch the Philadelphia Phillies square off with the San Francisco Giants at 7 p.m.

The game was the last thing on her mind, though, as she mentally prepared herself for her first Major League performance at a stadium that seats more than 43,000 people.

“I think it’s just going to be really exciting," Newberger, whose stage name around York is Caroline Rose, said prior to the game. "I’m going to have to do some deep breathing to make sure I’m ready to go.”

The 2010 Dallastown graduate went on to study music and theater at Kutztown University, two disciplines that helped her break into the rarefied world of national anthem singers.

She got her start singing for the York Revolution a few years ago when she walked into the stadium offices to inquire about performing. Newberger said auditions for the season had ended, but she was asked to perform on the spot. She did, and she was added to the running list of performers.

The York Revolution have had baseball players and staff go on to the MLB, but this might be the first time one of its singers has made the majors, said Eric Menzer, president of the independent-league professional baseball team.

Menzer said it takes a lot of nerve and talent to sing the anthem for such a large crowd.

"It’s not an easy song to sing," he said. "It’s also more difficult in that stadium environment, because you have an echo and a delay. You can’t listen. You have to just sing."

The alto-voiced jazz singer planned to stick to the fundamentals and aim to deliver a strong performance. “I like to sing jazzy music, but when I sing the national anthem, I like to sing it as written," she said.

Newberger said the opportunity leaves her thrilled to be doing what she loves.

“It is definitely like a dream come true," she said. "But it makes me wonder, this came true, what else can come true?”