Now that our regular season has ended, our preparation for the NCAA DIII Regional Tournament continues. We lost our last two regular season games to Hope College on Tuesday by scores of 3-0 and 4-2. Nobody likes to lose games, and certainly not two games in one day, but we have to tip our caps to Hope’s players; they out-played us. That happens in baseball, so we continue to try and become a better team each day, just as we have all season.
The all conference team was announced yesterday and we have six players who earned all-conference, first team honors in the MIAA this year. We had the pitcher of the year and the player of the year for the third year in a row. Congratulations to all of the guys and to our one second team all league players. All of them are well-deserved awards, but I know that each guy would trade personal rewards for team accomplishments!!
Today I attended a funeral in Dearborn for the father of one of my former players at Siena Heights University. Eric attended with me, as he had gotten to know my players pretty well while he was in his last couple years of high school. There was a work accident that led to the death of the young 57 year old man. I never know what the best thing to say is at a time like that, so I told Ryan that I was sorry and that loved him, gave him and his wife, mom and brother big hugs. The priest at Divine Child did a great job during the funeral. He said that Frank lived his life, just as God intended for us to do. He was a friend to many and a great father and husband.
An incident like that can often put things into perspective. Some people may stress over the loss of a doubleheader, but Ryan and his loved ones have huge holes in their hearts and it is difficult, I’m sure, to fill those holes right now. Compared to losing baseball games, well, there is no way to compare the two.
The fortunate thing for Ryan and his family is that they have lived their lives knowing that God loves them, and that Frank lived his life as a great example of what God’s love is all about. He didn’t necessarily verbalize his faith; he lived it. Ryan’s family will gain in strength because of Frank’s love for them and his faith in the Lord. Frank shared his faith with all family and friends that he encountered, and he did it completely.
So as far as the Regional Tournament is concerned, if we are to compete, then we must compete completely. God put us on this earth with other people for a reason. He didn’t put us here by ourselves. He gave each of us unique gifts, gifts that are to be shared with others. Our players can hopefully compete with each other and for each other, sacrificing ego for the good of their teammates, playing for their teammates rather than themselves.
My players don’t know Ryan or Frank, but I want to thank Frank for sharing Ryan with me for a few years, and thank Ryan for giving everything he had for his teammates for four years. Victories on the field may not be able to be taken away, but the selflessness of teammates carries over for generations, always to be warmly felt and remembered.
No comments:
Post a Comment