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District Champions

Writer's picture: Steven CutterSteven Cutter

Shortly after our 2024 college baseball season, I found myself beyond disappointed and in our athletic director's office talking about my feelings. Greg has proven wise beyond his years and is a true asset to the college and coaching staff he oversees. He told me something that day that stuck with me. He said he understood the disappointment and feelings and thought it was important to remember that even though we were done way earlier than we thought, I could use this time to experience some of the things a coach often misses while in season. That reference was to our middle daughter (Strike 2), as I appropriately named her when she was born. Having three daughters in total, it fit for a baseball coach.


This is her first year on varsity as a freshman pitcher for the Bulldogs and a high school game schedule that mirrored our college game schedule. So, to say that I watched her play much this season would have been a considerable overstatement. With the final few weeks of the regular season to go and playoffs just around the corner, I loaded up my bag chair, and away I went.


The experiences over the last few weeks have been incredible, and you can often find me near the outfield fence, as far away from the noise as possible. Getting to see her play and experience success and failure, all while enjoying the first-year journey, has been the medicine I did not know I needed.


The playoffs started this past Saturday, and the Bulldogs would need to win two games to win their first district championship in over a decade. Strike 2 pitched in both games and after the Bulldogs won the first game, she was once again asked to toe the rubber for the championship game.


As the close game went on against a quality opponent, I found myself no longer able to sit in my bag chair and wandering up and down the fence line with that feeling that I had been missing since our college season was over. You know that feeling when you are nervously excited about what is happening in the competition? All athletes and coaches get to experience that, and I truly believe that is why it is so hard to walk away from sports when your time has come.


With the score tied 4-4 in the 6th inning, the Bulldogs were able to scratch a run across with a runner on third base, two outs, and a spinning ball off the bat that was picked up by the defender just a second too early before it rolled foul. I thought to myself as it happened that a razor-thin line often decides games. Sometimes, that line occurs in the first inning, and sometimes, it is saved for the end.


With a 5-4 lead, Strike 2 entered the circle needing three outs, and that is precisely what she got. Two pop-ups and a groundout, and the celebration began. I only realized it as I was in a spot that day where I never am, right behind home plate, with my phone in hand, videoing that last out.


If things had worked out the way I expected them to this season, I would have never seen her 7 inning pitching gem and moment in time, and I would have missed the hugs, joy, and tears afterward. That wise athletic director was right. Life is not about what you have planned but about enjoying what you have been given, and I am indeed so thankful to be able to see it in person. Here's to another week of practice for her and the Regionals!




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