Sunday, June 15, 2008

Back at the Old Ballpark

Trey is the kind of kid (it's so strange to call him that, because he's not truly a kid, but he's not an adult, either. Sheesh--now I've reminded myself of a Britney Spears song, and truly, is that the kind of thing you want running around in your head?) who would play baseball year all year long if he could. In fact, all through high school, he did. He played on at least three travel ball teams that played throughout the fall: the Bandits, the Stars, and the Cougars. When he began playing for the Varsity Team at Georgetown High School, he finished with travel ball and began playing Junior Legion in the summer time. After graduating high school, he moved on to American Legion, which is Junior Legion's big brother.

Trey's first year on American Legion started out a little rocky. As a newcomer to the team, he had to work (harder than he works already) to prove to the coaches that he was worthy of the position he wanted. Once they let him on the field, he was such an asset at first base that he never left it. They were a young team (mostly freshly-graduated high school seniors), and yet they went to the American Legion State Championships. This year, the team has almost the exact same line-up, and they seem intent on going back to the State Championships.

But I told you all that to tell you this-- Georgetown American Legion does not play at Mike Johnson Park. They play at the Waccamaw High School baseball field, so Trey was pretty excited (not that he'd EVER let anyone see) to be able to play at his "home" field.


When it was time to get the field in order, Trey was the first player out there. Any surprises that he took a bag straight to first base? Trey is so awesome that I imagine he practically dares someone else to touch his base. You can't see it in the photo, but first base is almost directly in line with the MVP sign that bears Trey's name.


Trey taking infield before the game begins. He makes it look so easy, so effortless, but I think that's a testament to how hard he works at his sport.



The team-- this a great group of guys. They really came together as a team last year, and at the scrimmages in Florence a few weekends ago, it was obvious that they hadn't lost that feeling. There are a couple of new players on the team, but the veterans have really taken them in.

Trey in the "on-deck" circle, taking a few practice swings:





In the batter's box:

Since the season began at the beginning of June, all of the games have been at night. We were even blessed with mild weather in late May at the Florence scrimmage tournament. But this game at Mike Johnson park was at one in the afternoon, and we're in the middle of a heatwave! We were all sapped of our strength in the stands, and certainly the boys were on the field. We ended up losing the game to Florence 4-0, and Trey ended up 1 for 3 at bat.

One thing that really hit me while we were at the game was that, unless Trey plays in another Alumni game, this will be his last time playing at Mike Johnson Park.

Though he's moving on to bigger things at USC Lancaster, it was a bitter pill for us to swallow.

Toodles!

1 comment:

Lynn said...

I know you and Ritchie are so proud of Trey. Great pictures!! This is why I love blogging. I don't get to see you everyday but this way we know what is going on in each other's lives.