Baseball, Live it! Love it!
Baseball,
America’s pastime, is my favorite sport to play, watch, and think about. One of my most important goals in life is to
play college baseball and play professional baseball for the New York Yankees. I have worked very hard since the age of
seven to realize this goal. My baseball
career began in Little League and continues today on the Hidden Valley Junior
Varsity Baseball Team. At other times I
have also played AAU travel baseball as well as school ball for Hidden Valley
Middle School. Baseball has been my
sport for eight years and has helped me grow and mature both as a student and
athlete. I respect the game and will
work very hard to achieve my dream of wearing pinstripes for the Yankees.
My
life-long journey as a baseball player began when I was just a 2nd
grader at North Cross School. The
situation was tough for me because nobody at my school played baseball. I had no choice but to play Little League
Baseball with a bunch of kids who went to Roanoke County Public Schools. At age seven, my first of Little League team
was a machine pitch team called the Cave Spring National Little Giants. Thank goodness for the machine because seven
year olds don’t pitch too well. I didn’t
know any of the players on the team but soon became good friends with all of
them. Many of my teammates from the
Giants and other machine-pitch teams remain friends of mine to this day and
play baseball for either Hidden Valley (Go Titans!) or Cave Spring. One of the highlights of that first season
was a team bus trip to see the Orioles play the Yankees at Camden Yards in
Baltimore, Maryland. It was my first bus
trip to see professional baseball and I hope that will be repeated many times
on college bus and plane trips. I suspect the Yankees fly in style!
The
next level of my baseball experience began the following year at the minor league
level for Cave Spring National Little League.
I was put on a team called the Dodgers.
My coach (Keith Custer) was a familiar face as were some of the players
from my Giants’ team. Coach Custer was
very intense and he loved to win. At
this level, kids begin pitching to each other. At first, it was a bit scary
because, occasionally, a player would get hit by the pitch. I have to admit that when you are only eight
or nine years old, anything that hits you is going to make you cry. I got “beaned” a few times and did, in fact,
cry. Getting “beaned” feels like getting
stung by a huge bumble bee. Ouch!
After
minor-league play I was drafted at age ten to play at the next level at the
major league level for a team called the Roanokers. This team had the two of the best coaches any
kid could ask for, head Coach Jerry Ellis and his assistant Coach Bob
Guthrie. When I played for them they had
over 65 years of combined coaching experience.
They loved the game and, more importantly, they loved us and treated us
like we were their own children. Coach
Guthrie, in particular, is someone I will remember for the rest of my life
because he always had something positive to say and usually gave me a great big
bear hug whenever I saw him. I was
always small for my size and he would always say to me: “little boy can’t hit
the ball very hard.” I was always
determined to show Coach Guthrie that I sure could hit the ball hard, and would
often say to him “little boys can to hit just watch coach.” By challenging us in a positive way Coach
Guthrie was always able to bring out the best in his players.
One
of the other great things about Little League is being able to play All
Stars. I was fortunate enough to be a
starting pitcher and second baseman on the major league All-Star team. All
major league All-Star teams have the same opportunity to try and play in
Williamsport, Pennsylvania at the Little League World Series. All-Stars play begins at the end of the regular
season by being selected by the major-league coaches as one of the best players
in the league. I had the honor of being chosen to play on an All-Star team for
four years which was every year I was eligible.
Traveling around the Shenandoah Valley representing Cave Spring National
Little League All Stars was one of my happiest childhood memories.
During
my time with the Roanokers I began to work on my game with professional
instructors. I got to know two of them
quite well: Coach Ricky Gregg and Coach Dave Christiansen. These two men are the coaches who really got
me started toward being the player I am today.
Coach Gregg is very laid back and always had extra time for me and even
allowed me to come to his facility and hit after hours. He was my first real hitting coach. Coach Gregg had a great sense of humor and
was a big University of Kentucky fan.
One time, a friend of mine came with me to a lesson wearing a Duke
t-shirt and Coach Gregg made him put duct tape over the “D” and the “e” to make
sure we in the “Wildcat mood” as he used to say. Coach Dave Christiansen also played
professional baseball and continues to be my hitting and pitching
instructor. I’ve learned a great deal
from Dave about the mental aspects of the game such as controlling my emotions
and focusing like a laser beam when I pitch or hit. Dave really has helped me take my game to the
next level: to help me face better pitchers and to become a better pitcher
myself. Baseball, even when played well,
is a game of failure. The best hitters
in the pros only get a hit about three and a half times per ten at bats. Dave has helped me get a better handle on
understanding this concept. Coach Dave
always says “baseball is a game of failure even when you’re doing well.”
Throughout my entire
major league career, I have also played on AAU travel baseball teams. My first travel team was the Roanoke
Badgers. This was a great opportunity to
play on a travel baseball team because you would get to play teams from all
over Virginia. Right now I am on a
travel baseball team called the Valley Venom and this upcoming summer, I am
going to play on a team called RTG Baseball and play in showcase tournaments in
Virginia and the surrounding states. RTG
stands for “Respect the Game.” The RTG
team will be coached by Randy Boone, who is a pitching coach at Hidden Valley High
School. Coach Boone knows a great deal
about the game and especially strategy during games. He always tells us to respect the game,
respect each other, and to “pick up” our teammates when they are down. He never yells at us and is always
encouraging.
At this point in time, I am playing on
the Hidden Valley Junior Varsity team.
Our team appears be very good and everyone gets along well with each
other. I expect us to win almost all of
our games. I love the three coaches we
have. They all understand that yelling
at the players isn’t going to make us better and that the game is bigger than
any one player. Whenever we do something
wrong, they always encourage us to do better next time. This method of coaching is what I imagine
Derek Jeter, the Yankees great shortstop, would adopt if he ever coaches. Jeter is known for his respect of the game
and I admire him greatly.
In conclusion, the start of my baseball
career began as a 2nd grader and I continue to play and love baseball
to this day. I have made many friends
because of this wonderful game and part one of my life goal/dream is to play
baseball in college at either the University of Virginia or the University of
Oregon. Part two of my dream is to wear
those amazing pinstripes worn by the New York Yankees. Come to think of it, getting the privilege to
play for any college or Major League team will be fine with me. Play ball!
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