Cal Ripken Jr. Visits Md. School After Students' Social Media Campaign

POCOMOKE CITY, Md. (WJZ) -- Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr. surprises high school students in Worchester County with a special visit.

Tracey Leong has more on the visit and how students lured him there.

Students at Pocomoke High School rallying together to get sports icon Cal Ripken Jr. to be their spring commencement speaker.

"When I think of the kind of individual I want to speak to my kids at graduation, I want somebody who has the character and the work ethic that Cal has," Principal Annette Wallace said.

This past fall, students launched a #WeWantCal campaign on social media.

Ripken had a prior engagement, but was so impressed with their effort, he couldn't leave them empty handed.

"It was like a dream come true, because we've been waiting to do this since our homecoming week," junior Shayla Jones said.

On Wednesday, more than 340 students got the surprise of a lifetime.

"The looks on my kids' faces really say it all," Wallace said. "They were super excited. When he walked in, they gave him a standing ovation. It was pretty cool. More applause than I've ever gotten."

The Iron Man also applauding students on their positive way of using social media, spending more than two hours answering questions and delivering words of inspiration.

"Since Cal came to his games and practices every day and worked hard, I can do the same thing," Jones added.

"He said 'Practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practices make perfect.' I can carry that into my sports life, my academics and just life in general," junior Jacob Glover said.

While students say Cal Ripken Jr.'s visit is hard to top, their principal says some of the students are trying to bring Lebron James next year, possibly using a similar social media campaign.

Ripken played 21 seasons for the Orioles and set a record for most consecutive games played.