Takes from the Train - About Dan's Triumph

It is Friday already and I meant to write the tale of Dan's pitching triumph sooner. At least I can provide the synopsis before the event becomes obscurred by the passage of time.

I took Monday as a vacation day to do several personal errands and also hoped to see Steve play baseball with his Freshman team. When I got to the school I learned that the game had been cancelled but the varsity team (Dan's) team would be playing in Hopewell. I have been chosing Steve's games over Dan's since he is the younger but with such a nice afternoon I drove to Hopewell Valley High School looking forward to watching Dan play centerfield.

When I got to the field and was positioned on the bleachers Coach Goldsmith came to tell the parents about a situation where the senior ace pitcher was declared ineligible based on playing on a high school team when he was in the 8th grade. Turns out the school players have 4 years eligibility from when they start playing.

This was devastating in it would reverse the two wins that the player had pitched but also he would not be allowed to play the remainder of this year. He was also slated to pitch the game that was being played that afternoon.

While taking that news in, I noticed Dan heading out to warm up as pitcher. He has been used only sparingly the past two years coming in as a relief pitcher and never going more than 2 or 3 innings. I was excited about being able to see what he could do.

The game began with the tall HV pitcher making quick work of the three Princeton batters. Dan came out to pitch the first inning and handled the HV batters quite effectively himself, getting the batters to hit easy ground ball outs to the infield.

In the next inning Dan led off and hit a long ball that flew over the centerfielder's head. It was a close play but Dan slid in to 2nd base for a double. He later came around to score and was followed by 2 more runs that inning. That would be the extent of the offense for Princeton that day.

The story of the day was how Dan kept coming back inning after inning pitching his game of ground balls and fly balls. The team behind him was making good plays and seemed to grow stronger and more confident with each made play. By the 7th inning taking a 3-1 lead into the final at bat by HV, Dan and the Princeton team seemed very sure of themselves.

The first pitch of the final inning was a ground ball back to the pitcher for an easy put-out. One pitch - one out. The next batter went down swinging at a change up for the only strikeout recorded for Dan. The next batter hit a grounder to the first baseman who flipped the ball to Dan covering 1st for the final out.

The celebration that ensued was a great moment for the Princeton team who had recieved such devestating news just hours before. The game was the best individual performance of Dan's life and I was so glad to have been there to witness it and to share his joy.

There certainly will be big things to happen to him in the future but this was a day that reminds me what baseball can be about. Good job, Dan! I love you and am so proud to be your dad.