Volcanoes

Since March, I have been honored to be the head coach of the Frenship Youth Baseball Shetland team, The Volcanoes. Our Spring season was less than stellar during the regular season.

The team is made up of 5 and 6 year olds who, on our team anyway, had never played anything other than t-ball. This league plays coach pitch, in which the players must hit a thrown ball from their own coach. Most of the teams in the league were all ahead of the Volcanoes, having played not only in the Fall the year before but then had a whole season of spring ball under their belts before this season started. Needless to say, the Volcanoes went down 0-15.

But in a miraculous turn of events, every team is then a part of an end of season tournament. Being the cellar dwellers, we got the honor of playing the play in game...something similiar to the NCAA March Madness. We were the Monmouth getting our chance at Duke...or in this league...the Express, which had 20 and 10 run ruled us in the regular season. Taking only a 3 run lead into the final inning, the Express went on to defeat the Volcanoes sending us to the losers bracket where we would play out nemisis, a team that we had lost to 3 times by a combined 5 runs!
Not only did we win...but we went on to rattle off 3 wins in a row in the tourney before going down...ending up in 5th place!

So at the end of this summer, the league has a shortened season known as Fall Ball...which really should be called "Hotter than Hell Summer League"! After a glitch in getting the team together, I took the helm of a mixed team of former Valcanoes as well as kids just looking for a place to play...some had never played before and most had only t-ball experience again. We were going up against teams that were simply tuning up before they advanced to the next level...machine pitch.
We are still winless...but I have never enjoyed anything as much as being a part of this team. The kids are having a blast...they are getting better every game.

Finding joy in the midst of absolute failure is a theme that seems to be going around these days. I'm not sure what is in the water but it seems that bad times have settled over a couple of my amigos. Although going winless in coach pitch is not really the same as losing a job or being in a soul sucking job, we all make the choice on how we handle the adversity that kicks us in the groin from time to time. Are we to sit and allow these things to define who we are? It seems that when you are going out of your way to give back to others, even in the midst of failure...you are rewarded with something that changes who you are.

Giving time to teach a kid to keep his head in when swinging a bat...staying down on that groundball and following through when they throw the ball...all simple things but so rewarding at the end of the game to see that one sparkling catch or clutch hit, even if we are down 10 runs in the last at bat! I think the main reason I LOVE baseball so much is that you have to continually deal with failure. Think about it, if you go 3 for 10...which in other words you FAILED 7 out of 10 times...you are pretty much a hall of famer if you continue on that pace for your career. If you cannot mentally handle adversity, baseball will eat you alive...and I love it!

So to my amigos who have been kicked around recently, don't be the one on the bench that's given up. Be the one buggin me to put you in...wanting to get that hit or make that play in the outfield! Put me in coach...I'm ready to play!