Finding Serendipity » Blog

This isn’t the post I was going to write.
I had intended to scan some old photos of him, and tell you about this young man who continues to amaze and humble me.

But in the middle of the stress and busy chaos that comes with this time,

I think the nostalgia would crumble me.

He’s graduating tonight.

And he’s already played his last baseball game.

And what a game it was.
It began with the All-Conference team selection for our Inter Mountain Athletic Conference {IMAC}.

This game was for the conference title, and we were playing the first seed. They had home field advantage.

Baseball is a different team game.
When the batter gets up, it’s just him. There is no team at that moment. Same when the pitcher pitches, and the catcher catches, and the fielders field. It’s a team sport with lots of solo performances.

As a parent, you are so excited when they have the opportunity to perform.

And scared to death for them, too.

This game…
It started as a beautiful evening, and the boys played hard. At one point, though, the opponent hit a home run with two men already on base. By the bottom of the 5th inning, we were losing 1-6.

I had this sinking feeling in my chest, and I think most of the people with me in the stands believed it was over… That this would be their last game of the season, his last baseball game ever. But I heard our coach encouraging from within the dugout,

“Don’t stop playing now! Don’t stop playing now!”

And.they.didn’t.

They earned it back, hit by hit, play by play, run by run.

It grew dark, and we could hear thunder in the distance. And it grew as those boys pushed on. It got so loud, I could feel my chest vibrate with the rumble of the thunder. My husband said, “That’s the sound of the Trojans coming.” And I smiled. Their energy was palpable, just like the thunder. You could feel it.

Soon, there was lightening, too, but with the score tied for the IMAC Championship, the refs let them play on. It struck first in the distance, and then it was jumping cloud-to-cloud over the boys, in the sky behind the field. 

We would score, but then they would, too, matching us run-for-run. {As the home team, they have last at-bat.}

And the rain poured down!

Until, finally.

Our pitcher struck out the first three batters at the bottom of the 10th inning.

To my son, these boys, and coach Stansbury :: Congratulations! Well-earned!

To coaches Martin, Gary, Christopher, Woody, Bacon, Mike, Stansbury; to the Indians, Weevils, Dodgers, Yard Dogs, Knights, Eagles, Trojans :: Thank you for a solid ten years of baseball memories we will cherish for the rest of our lives.

Jordan
#20, pitcher, first baseman, outfielder
IMAC All-Conference Team
IMAC Champion

Morristown-Hamblen West High Trojan Graduate

Thank you, Dan Browning, for sharing this captured moment.

Video moments to note ::

~ the smiles on each and every one
~ young man at the bottom of the pile kicking his feet
~ our head coach, just after the coaches congratulate each other, touching his lip… you can feel this moment
~ one of pitchers, backrolling out of the pile

PS :: I will write that post.

I just need to find my courage again.

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