Oshkosh fan completes a birthday 'bucket list' with Christian Yelich picture thanks to Brewers owner

Kaitlyn Demler gifted herself the tickets on her 17th birthday. But there was still a surprise element to her party.

The Oshkosh West High School student turned 17 on Monday, and she celebrated in section 116 behind home base at American Family Field, joined by her grandfather, Norman, in seats she purchased herself from money saved working at Kwik Trip. She also brought a hand-drawn Brewers poster with a "bucket list" of birthday achievements, leaving one box empty for a "picture with Christian Yelich."

Thanks to an interaction with Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, she was about to complete the list.

"Right when I got there (after the game), Mark, the owner, was right in front of me and saw my poster, took a picture of it to send it to Christian Yelich," Demler said Tuesday after her interaction with Yelich proved a touching grace note to a 10-0 Brewers win over the Mets.

After 30 minutes of Mark and son Mike Attanasio working to track Yelich down, the left fielder returned to the field and signed a ball that he'd thrown to Demler after first-inning warmups during a game last September.

"It happened so suddenly," she said. "I never thought this would happen; it just happened. I could not prepare. I started sobbing, to say the least."

Yelich signed the ball, took a picture and provided the checkmark on the poster board. Day made for Demler, who admitted she skipped classes to attend the game with her "go-to" Brewers buddy, though it did happen to be a virtual day.

"Nobody else really likes the sport in my family, so I kind of force him (to go)," Kaitlyn said of Norman.

More: Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio discusses state of the team, payroll and American Family Field

More: Six things you may have missed from Monday's Brewers home opener (starting with that flyover)

Demler said her diehard Brewers fandom began in 2019 and she has a number of hand-drawn signs that she's brought to games. She'd never been to a home opener before, though.

Yelich struggled during the game, striking out four times, though he also walked and scored a run and did have some time to make one fan's birthday extra special.

"The way Mark and Mike fought for me, I will just never forget," Kaitlyn said. "Whether he was an owner or not, he fought for a stranger when he didn't have to do that. I don't think there was any publicity involved. There was no cameras. Everyone was gone. I was so thankful and thankful for Christian Yelich, of course. We were waiting for a while and he was busy, and that he could find some time to come up means a lot."

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Christian Yelich makes Brewers fan's day after 10-0 win in home opener