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Youngest son ex baseball player finished up his 3rd semester at the Academy and has decided he wants to be a pilot so we will see how that goes but did well in his classes (Mechanical Engineering). Oldest son is a year out of college with an Accounting degree but decided he didn't like accounting so he added a year of college to get a minor in TV Production (or something like that). He decided he wanted to be Television producer. He did a few volunteer jobs as an assistant made some contacts and landed a job as an Associate Producer. After a couple of months promoted to Producer. Been a good year in this household.       

MidAtlanticDad posted:
cabbagedad posted:

Shove, I have a hippie daughter too...  she had quite the year.

The restaurant she was working at in San Diego burned down so she used that event as springboard to make a move to Hood River, Oregon.  In the summer, the Eagle Creek fire jumped the Hood River and forced evacuation from her new home and the resort she was now working at.  She came home to the Central Coast for the Thanksgiving Holidays and was here for the start of the Thomas fire (just south of us)... the biggest wildfire in California history.  She just headed down to Mexico for a big kite boarding event... as long as she stays on the water, what can possibly burn, right?

As for Cabbage, I've been holding on to this one for a bit... he landed a Head Coach job in the Valley League for this coming summer.  

 

Congratulations to Alex! Let us know if you make a trip east this summer (my son will be playing for Winchester).

Thanks Mid, hoping to do that and will let you know if things line up.  I'm guessing that's not too far away for you with your son.

To start this off, not all of this is positive. This is the story of my 2017. 2017 was the definition of a rollercoaster ride. I felt like I should share my story as it could be inspirational/ uplifting to athletes who went/ are going through the same things as I did. 

 

 

The start of 2017 was the in the middle of my junior year in HS. Started the year off on the absolute wrong foot because I dislocated my knee during December of 2016. Thankfully, I didn’t need surgery so I dedicated myself to rehabbing my knee to prepare for the season which starts at the end of January for us. Going into the season I was a RHP & 3B. I was stuck behind a returning all-district 3B and probably wasn’t being considered for a ton of innings on the mound. Here in TX, before we start our district games we play 6 game round robin tournaments. These tournament put stress on every pitching staff in the state so pretty much everyone gets innings during these. In the first tournament, I was given a start on the second day of games. I ended up throwing a CG shutout in a mercy rule victory. Going into the second tournament, I got a second start but this time I absolutely laid an egg. Gave up more runs than I care to share and could  find the strike zone. This leads us into district play. In our district we play 3 game series. The first series I got no playing time. In the second series, I was brought in to get a single batter out in a tight situation, which I did, and then got pulled because I was only needed to get the one out and that was it for that series. Next comes the series against our rivals, who were ranked in the top 10 in the state. I ended up throwing 3 innings with no earned runs and 4 Ks. It was around this point in the season where my coach started to phase me out of playing third and making me a PO. In the next two series I became the go to guy out of the bullpen. I pitched well enough to earn a start in the final series of the year, which determined if we made playoffs or not. I got the start in a do or die game which held our playoff fate. I threw five innings only allowing 1 earned run and striking out 7. But that wasn’t enough, we lost the game 3-0 and missed the playoffs. My final stats were: 2.21 ERA  29 Ks and 10 BBs. I earned second team all district and academic all district. All of this while playing on a bad knee. 

 

Fast forward to the summer season... I had all the confidence in the world going into the summer after my success from the spring. We played  a competive schedule and I knew this was my chance to get recruited. To make this short, I had the worst summer of my life. I didn’t have a single good outing. But I still had some hope because we were going to HeadFirst in Sacramento. When I signed up for HF, I was still a two way player, so on the first day I worked out with the infielders. During the defensive showcase portion, I was fielding a backhand groundball, planted to make the throw and my leg gave out. I dislocated my knee again. This was the worst timing because HF backed up directly with WWBA in Atlanta so I was unable to participate in either event. At this point, I just gave up on college baseball. I came to terms that it wasn’t meant to be. This was a really hard thing for me to deal as I have played baseball for upwards of 15 years. 

 

By now school had started back up and I was back working out with the team again. Thinking this would be my last season playing baseball, I devoted myself to be the best pitcher I possibly could for my teammates so I could help get us to the playoffs and ultimately get our program back where it needed to be. I worked harder than ever before in the weight room and took my arm care more seriously than before. That fall my velo jumped from 81-82 to 86-87. At a fall scrimmage there were some scouts from some local schools there to watch some of my teammates. During my inning, I threw really well and they took notice  That re-lit the fire in me and I decided to attend one last showcase just to see what would happen. From that event I had 8 different schools contact me asking me to come on visits and ultimately pick up offers from the schools I was interested in. As of right now, I have my choice of what school I want to play at this fall. This was a situation I would have never dreamed I would have been in only 4 months prior. 

 

I guess the moral of this story is perseverance. 2017 was the most mentally, emotionally, and physically stressful year of my life but I am stronger because of it. If you are an athlete or a parent of an athlete who is in a similar situation I was, DON’T GIVE UP!! No matter you’re going through, work hard and you’ll get through it. I hope some off you find this story inspiring and go do great things this year! Happy 2018!!!!

 

standballdad posted:

Youngest son ex baseball player finished up his 3rd semester at the Academy and has decided he wants to be a pilot so we will see how that goes but did well in his classes (Mechanical Engineering). Oldest son is a year out of college with an Accounting degree but decided he didn't like accounting so he added a year of college to get a minor in TV Production (or something like that). He decided he wanted to be Television producer. He did a few volunteer jobs as an assistant made some contacts and landed a job as an Associate Producer. After a couple of months promoted to Producer. Been a good year in this household.       

Outstanding!

BLUD15 posted:

To start this off, not all of this is positive. This is the story of my 2017. 2017 was the definition of a rollercoaster ride. I felt like I should share my story as it could be inspirational/ uplifting to athletes who went/ are going through the same things as I did. 

 

 

The start of 2017 was the in the middle of my junior year in HS. Started the year off on the absolute wrong foot because I dislocated my knee during December of 2016. Thankfully, I didn’t need surgery so I dedicated myself to rehabbing my knee to prepare for the season which starts at the end of January for us. Going into the season I was a RHP & 3B. I was stuck behind a returning all-district 3B and probably wasn’t being considered for a ton of innings on the mound. Here in TX, before we start our district games we play 6 game round robin tournaments. These tournament put stress on every pitching staff in the state so pretty much everyone gets innings during these. In the first tournament, I was given a start on the second day of games. I ended up throwing a CG shutout in a mercy rule victory. Going into the second tournament, I got a second start but this time I absolutely laid an egg. Gave up more runs than I care to share and could  find the strike zone. This leads us into district play. In our district we play 3 game series. The first series I got no playing time. In the second series, I was brought in to get a single batter out in a tight situation, which I did, and then got pulled because I was only needed to get the one out and that was it for that series. Next comes the series against our rivals, who were ranked in the top 10 in the state. I ended up throwing 3 innings with no earned runs and 4 Ks. It was around this point in the season where my coach started to phase me out of playing third and making me a PO. In the next two series I became the go to guy out of the bullpen. I pitched well enough to earn a start in the final series of the year, which determined if we made playoffs or not. I got the start in a do or die game which held our playoff fate. I threw five innings only allowing 1 earned run and striking out 7. But that wasn’t enough, we lost the game 3-0 and missed the playoffs. My final stats were: 2.21 ERA  29 Ks and 10 BBs. I earned second team all district and academic all district. All of this while playing on a bad knee. 

 

Fast forward to the summer season... I had all the confidence in the world going into the summer after my success from the spring. We played  a competive schedule and I knew this was my chance to get recruited. To make this short, I had the worst summer of my life. I didn’t have a single good outing. But I still had some hope because we were going to HeadFirst in Sacramento. When I signed up for HF, I was still a two way player, so on the first day I worked out with the infielders. During the defensive showcase portion, I was fielding a backhand groundball, planted to make the throw and my leg gave out. I dislocated my knee again. This was the worst timing because HF backed up directly with WWBA in Atlanta so I was unable to participate in either event. At this point, I just gave up on college baseball. I came to terms that it wasn’t meant to be. This was a really hard thing for me to deal as I have played baseball for upwards of 15 years. 

 

By now school had started back up and I was back working out with the team again. Thinking this would be my last season playing baseball, I devoted myself to be the best pitcher I possibly could for my teammates so I could help get us to the playoffs and ultimately get our program back where it needed to be. I worked harder than ever before in the weight room and took my arm care more seriously than before. That fall my velo jumped from 81-82 to 86-87. At a fall scrimmage there were some scouts from some local schools there to watch some of my teammates. During my inning, I threw really well and they took notice  That re-lit the fire in me and I decided to attend one last showcase just to see what would happen. From that event I had 8 different schools contact me asking me to come on visits and ultimately pick up offers from the schools I was interested in. As of right now, I have my choice of what school I want to play at this fall. This was a situation I would have never dreamed I would have been in only 4 months prior. 

 

I guess the moral of this story is perseverance. 2017 was the most mentally, emotionally, and physically stressful year of my life but I am stronger because of it. If you are an athlete or a parent of an athlete who is in a similar situation I was, DON’T GIVE UP!! No matter you’re going through, work hard and you’ll get through it. I hope some off you find this story inspiring and go do great things this year! Happy 2018!!!!

 

That is a great story!  Perseverance is crucial to success.  EVERY player will have to pick themselves up from something, but it takes a special person to do what you did.  I am glad you didn't let your disappointment get the best of you.

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