About halfway through Paul’s baseball years, our team finally ‘got good.’
Honestly, I think our team (players and coaches) spent the first few years learning the system, gelling as a team and finding the right chemistry as a ballclub. The year our players turned 10, we had a great season – finished second in our league and advanced to our first Knox County Tournament.
About that time, a funny thing happened…all the youth baseball associations across the country got together and developed a common calendar. The former age cutoff had previously been July 31 but the calendar was reset during this discussion to April 30.
This move didn’t affect any of the older players on the team but it did affect Paul. It granted him, in essence, an extra year of eligibility. He went from being one of the younger 10 year olds in the league to one of the oldest.
After much discussion, we took the national baseball leaders up on this new-found benefit and for the second half of Paul’s years ‘On the Hill,’ he really excelled. I think the confidence that came from his new status as an older player worked wonders for him.
The downside, of course, is that as we ‘stayed back’ a year, many of our other players moved on. We essentially had to ‘rebuild’ the team that year (2006).
A year later, when we moved up an age level, we caught up with many of those players who had progressed the year before. At that point, our two teams (the older one and the younger one) merged for one glorious season – our first as the Choppers and our first playing more competitive baseball. We won our first tournament that April.
It was an exciting Choppers’ weekend capped off by a one-run, extra inning victory on Sunday. We won the game 4-3, we won the tournament, and we celebrated afterward by taking the trophy to our sponsors.
It was a high point from a great season.
I think about that year often and, especially, as we approach high school graduation season, I think of the 2007 Choppers.
Fast-forward to 2013. This spring, the first class of Choppers will graduate from high school. This includes the players from that original group - including Paul - and some other guys who later joined our ranks on future versions of Chopp teams. Bearden High School graduates tomorrow night; FHS follows on Saturday. A few of the other Choppers will graduate from other high schools this week or later this month.
From the 2007 Choppers, both of our catchers will graduate as will all three first basemen. Our centerfielder is a part of this year’s graduating class. So is our short stop and many of the guys who pitched. All of them will be ‘walking’ this week.
As a dad, I will have a tremendous amount of pride when Paul takes the stage at Thompson Boling Arena on Saturday night. But as ‘Coach Jeff,’ I will also be proud when I hear the names of other Choppers called. And though I won’t attend the graduations of the other schools, I will also be thinking of my other former players this weekend.
I will also remember the young guys who played on my teams before the Choppers; before ‘we got good.’ Many of those young men will graduate, too, and I will also be happy for them.
Next year, the second wave of former Choppers will enjoy their year as seniors. A year from now, I will celebrate their accomplishments as grads, too.
On Saturday night, I will try to contain my enthusiasm, but on the inside a part of me will be tempted to say: “OK. Everybody in. Choppers on 3. One. Two. Three. Go Choppers!”
JG
(Source: farragutbaseballinc.com)
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