excitedThere were a lot of good players trying out this year at that level. George, their coach, figured you could form two teams out of the 40 that came out, and they could compete with anyone. Cutting down to 18-20 would be a bitch. Kevin's a very good student, and he also played basketball, so there has not been time for baseball since November. Compounded by the shortened tryout schedule, we were all worried the frosh coaches might not notice him, or worse, when they were looking his way, it might be when he goofed something up, and they'd get the wrong idea. I knew he was good enough to make it.
I'll grant, it's a feather in our cap for our players to make the high school team. And I'll admit, we'll use that to encourage the rest of our team, to show them that yes, the effort we ask of them can really pay off. But that's a nice added bonus. It's a lesser thing, it's not the point of the exercise. The point is that two boys who I care a lot about, succeeded at something they worked hard at. If either or both of them had been cut, I wouldn't have cared about the failed ego boost for me or Nate. I would've felt awful for Ryan or Kevin. It sucks being cut from a team, and I know all too well what that's like.
Thankfully, that's water under the bridge. Now I get to see what they make of the opportunity they have, in colors, on the field.
