Sea Dogs radio hosts Rylee Pay (left) and Emma Tiedemann are pictured in their booth above the bleachers at Hadlock Field in April 2023. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

When the first pitch of the game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Boston Red Sox was thrown on Monday night, all the tension of the last few weeks was over and the moment that Emma Tiedemann and Rylee Pay had been waiting for had arrived.

“The first pitch was thrown and I just thought: Oh, now something is happening,” said Tiedemann.

The Portland Sea Dogs broadcast team, Tiedemann and Pay, were called up to the Major Leagues on Monday and were guests on NESN’s game commentary during the Women’s Celebration Game at Fenway Park.

“The tension was so high, you’re trying to keep your breathing and your heart rate normal, and once you put the headphones on you realize it’s just another game,” Pay said.

The duo received the invitation earlier this month and anticipation has been building ever since. For Monday’s second game against the Toronto Blue Jays – the first being overtime of a game suspended in June – they shared the booth with Dave O’Brien, NESN’s regular live commentator for Red Sox games, and co-commentator Kevin Youkilis, who spoke fondly throughout the game of his time with the Sea Dogs in 2003, the first season the team was affiliated with the Red Sox.

Tiedemann and Pay shared commentary in the fourth inning and stayed on for the rest of the game. Tiedemann called the three-run home run that Toronto’s George Springer hit around the Pesky Pole down the right field line in the fifth inning, while Pay called Jarren Duran’s two-run blast to center field in the eighth inning.

Tiedemann and Pay were originally scheduled to commentate for the middle three innings, but as the game progressed, their time on the microphone was extended for the remainder of the game. “Go ahead,” a producer told them, and O’Brien repeated the offer.

“It was super kind of Dave to let us use his microphone. It just shows what a broadcaster and person he is,” said Tiedemann.

This is Tiedemann’s fourth time commentating on the Sea Dogs, and Pay’s second. Last season they became the second all-female baseball commentary team and are currently the only active one.

The day began for Tiedemann and Pay at Fenway at 11:30 a.m., when they attended Boston manager Alex Cora’s first press conference of the day. They watched the afternoon game in the NESN studio at center field before meeting with O’Brien, attending Cora’s pre-game press conference and holding a press scrum of their own.

In Portland, Sea Dogs fans met for a watch party at Bissell Brothers.

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