07/30/2024
That’s a wrap! We finished up our Blue Sox season last week in VA Beach! We didn’t come home with hardware this time, but with great memories and so much to build on.
From Coach Kenny:
So many (sooooo many, my fault) words were shared over the past week about this past year and what these girls have accomplished both on the field and off in creating lifelong friendships. Great times were had, memories were created, and (sadly inevitably) tears were flowing at the end. What I can tell you that I absolutely did not expect 11 months ago was how much I would personally get into my own “feels” as we neared the finish line.
When you make the decision to truly go all-in with coaching a travel team for young kids, you need to know that you are taking on a supplementary parental role. These girls kill themselves for you, & hang on your every word (they also dont forget any promises either!). I will never forget watching (& worse, hearing) Ari take that shot off of her knee & sprinting to the mound praying that she didnt need to be rushed to a hospital. And all of the bumps and bruises I saw Kiley & Cayden take physically hurt me in the dugout. I hope each of you know that while it certainly is a part of the game, I felt every one of these and would have done anything I could to protect you if I could.
Man did we have some AWESOME SUCCESSES! When Zoe got that HUGE hit in the semis during our last fall tournament, it may have been the greatest elation that I had the entire season. That proved that we did belong and that we could win big games. Watching you all push yourself over the winter in ways you may not have ever done before was incredibly inspiring. Our first field practice this spring sent the coaching staff crazy because we knew we had something special.
I shared many of my favorite accolades with you last week but some of my favorite moments were:
Winning 8 rings & 40 games
Cayden’s over the shoulder grab
Kelsey’s game winning OF assist
Brynn’s diving catches over & over
Rilynn’s running madness, ripped pants, and constantly hurt legs
Alyssa’s 200th K & mentoring a young pitching staff
Blakely’s slide that broke up a play at the plate vs a BIG C
Corinne’s elation when she caught a huge fly ball in the fall
Zoe’s HUGE HIT
Lily’s triple-palooza amidst her sugar induced CFA sauce state
Ari every time we were forced to say “who else would make that play”
Kiley’s 2R double to win our first ring
And of course as a dad,
Gwen’s CLUTCH hit vs Express
The team county fair day, kickoff dinner, sleepover, panhandling & bowling, beach days, co****le, karaoke, water balloon fight, ice cream sandwiches, drinking pickle juice, arm wrestling competitions, mustaches, and dousing coach Ken are all memories I hope you carry with you well beyond everything we accomplished on the field.
So parting words here (I’m not crying, you’re crying), all twelve of you were such a significant part of why this machine worked so well. Remember that no one person on a team can win a game by themself. Trust the girl behind you in the lineup and the ones next to you in the field. This is a game and games are supposed to be fun. If it ever stops being fun, call me and we can fix that.
Thank you for showing up every day ready to work, open to trying new positions and trusting that we would have you ready come gameday. We werent perfect and even today I can list you SOOOOO many things that I wish we had more time to work on together.
Oh together, I miss half of yall already. But this isn’t goodbye, its only I will see you later. Love all of yall and proud to be part of your journey and life.
Go BLUE SOX!
Thank you all for your support this season! We invite you to follow the new Stars Fastpitch pages at the links below for both the 10U and 12U groups!
🥎🥎🥎🥎🥎🥎🥎🥎🥎🥎🥎🥎🥎🥎🥎
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61562413861839&mibextid=LQQJ4d
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563677274227&mibextid=LQQJ4d
