Mother’s Day Memories

By Valerie J. Calderon

The Pacesetter 13s are taking one day at a time.

One game at a time.

One play at a time.

One hit at a time.

One win at a time.

They are taking one day at a time because anything can happen in baseball. It’s true. Anything can happen. And it did last weekend at the May Madness baseball tournament in Des Moines, IA.

Nick B. framing it!

Mother's day bling!

Will getting dirty!

The tournament began with eight major teams. The Pacesetters dismantled three teams in pool play to earn the number one seed. While such a day is wildly entertaining for competitive parents and coaches who get a kick out of watching their own kids crush the baseball relentlessly, which is what happened, the day really didn’t have the makings of particularly captivating blog writing.

But Sunday, bracket play day, was a different story altogether. It had all the makings of a Sandlot movie trilogy—bumps, bruises, picks and pickles, bad play calls, homeruns, and come-from-behind victories.

The Pacesetters met the Waukee Cobras of Iowa in the semi-final. (For you USSSA stat junkies out there, they are ranked 6^th of 81 major teams in Region 4). The Cobras came out swinging. They took a quick lead, and the Pacesetters struggled to keep pace in the first two innings. However, Pacesetter defense tightened up and the offense began to chip away at their 5 – 0 deficit.

In the bottom of the 7^th, the Cobras were battling to protect a 5 – 5 tie and send the game to extra innings. The Cobra coach made a risky decision to walk two batters and load the bases with one out. On a missed squeeze play, the Cobras caught the runner from third in a pickle for 2 outs and immediately trapped the runner on two in a second pickle. With speed, and I’m convinced, a little bit of grace, the runner was safe back at two. On the next pitch, the pitcher nailed the Pacesetter batter, sending him to one to RE-load the bases. With two outs, bases loaded and a new batter at the plate, fans held their collective breath—from both dugouts. With the next pitch there was a dramatic pause as it sunk in—for both teams—that the pitcher hit the batter once again, walking in the winning run for the Pacesetters.

There was little time to relish in the victory. The Pacesetters took the field against the Perfect Game, another top 20 Region 4 team, who had just beaten the Frozen Ropes Tigers Black from Omaha in the other tight semi-final. Again, the Pacesetters found themselves in a five run deficit with the score 9 to 4, needing momentum. The Pacesetters made their own momentum and kept battling back to tie the game with big hits, tough pitching, and a strangely determined patience.

While the Pacesetters go-ahead run was called out on a steal at home (in my opinion, only one of a few miserable calls in the game), they kept playing. The Pacesetters continued to move toward the win, and walked away with a 12-10 victory and the tournament championship. Credit once again, goes to their opponents, as the Perfect Game played with just nine players, due to injuries.

A win never guarantees another win. It doesn’t matter if it’s one win, two wins, ten, twenty, or even twenty-five wins. A win never guarantees another win. The Pacesetter 13s are learning that good things must be hard-earned. And good things are more often earned when teams learn to collectively work hard together—one game, one play, one hit, one win at a time.

Congratulations, boys. You earned that. Thank you for a very happy and memorable Mother’s Day.