Friday evening the boys were fired up! The game started at 8:50pm. Some of the excitement and enthusiasm was because they were up past their bedtime playing baseball under the lights. It could have been due to the fact that they caught the vision of them winning the tournament. Whatever it was the boys were ready to go!
At the coaches meeting I won the coin toss and elected to be the home team. Everything was going our way, right up to the point where the other team posted a four spot on us in the top of the first inning. I started to think that maybe electing to be the home team wasn't such a good idea after all.
The boys battled back in the bottom of the first to get 3 runs back. It was a back and forth battle all game long. I guess the other team was excited about being up past their bedtime also.
Eventually, in the bottom of the 5th inning we went up by 4 runs. We had a runner on third base and our clean up hitter at the plate. There was about 2 minutes left in the game. When the coach on the other team came out of the dugout and motioned "ball game".
The home plate umpire was livid! He was the one to call when the game was over. And according to his watch time was not up and the boys should continue to play.
The opposing coach said "fine" and slowly walked to the mound for an extended visit with his pitcher. He essentially ran the clock out so that his team would not (potentially) give up any more runs.
Now to some of you this "time limit" stuff and "run differential" is foreign to your baseball experience. Basically, in tournaments you are seeded in the elimination round based on your win loss record and run differential during pool play.
What the coach was doing made sense based on tournament strategy. He was conceding victory and trying to prevent more damage to his run differential. I understand, from a strategy point of view, what he was doing. But at the end of the day he simply quit.
It was not a foregone conclusion that my clean up batter was going to hit a "bomb" or for that matter that the runner on third was going to score. But we will never know for sure because the boys were not able to compete to the end of the game.
There was a stark contrast between what my 10 year old boys did that evening compared to the actions of the opposing coach.
I absolutely love the fact that my boys did not quit. Even when they fell behind in the first inning they kept battling all night long.
Finishing is a lesson that I want my team to take from this season. Never give up and finish what you start.
Will it always be easy? Of course not. But you are still expected to finish what you start. I am so proud of the boys because in both of our games Friday night and Saturday afternoon the boys finished strong!
This is one of my favorite sports examples of finishing. It takes about 3:19 seconds but watch what he walks past at about 3:08.
After watching this video, you may be surprised that I also talked to the boys this weekend that "there is no crying in baseball."
Seriously, it's o.k. if you shed a tear over this video...
Telling the Greatest Story Ever Told Through The Greatest Game Ever Played....
This idea of perseverance is found all throughout the Bible.
"Patient endurance is what you need now, so you will continue to do God's will. Then you will receive all that he has promised."
We are expected to precede with "patient endurance" all the way to the end!
Finish Strong!
Finish Strong!
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