DailySusan Humor Blog

NO CRYING IN SOFTBALL

To every thing there is a season,
and a time for every purpose under the heaven.
-- Ecclesiastes 3:1

We were warned about softball. Our friends told us about a dog-pilin’, hair-pullin’ fistfight after a game that spilled over into the parking lot. Not players – parents! Our friends backed away, pretending to throw punches. They didn’t want to fight, but didn’t want their fellow parents to see them not fighting.

Whoa! What were we getting ourselves into?

When our daughter was 13, her team made it to Nationals. They missed a game because of a scheduling snafu that was not their fault. The forfeit knocked them out of the tournament. What a way to end their season! The girls huddled outside the tournament office, a few of them crying.

A big, burly woman came along. Frowning, she lectured, “There’s no crying in softball!”

One of our mothers said testily, “You don’t understand the situation. They have good reason to cry.”

The stranger put her hairy-knuckled hands on our mother’s shoulders, and SHOVED her to the ground.

Yikes! What HAD we gotten ourselves into?

Just a wonderful slice of life rich with lessons, and sweet with friendship, courage, sacrifice and character. The other night, our softball experience culminated in the second straight state championship for Eden’s high-school team, the Elkhorn Antlers.

The girls were jumping and whooping, beaming so brightly we didn’t need the balllfield lights. I looked around at the parents, and saw plenty of glittering tears.

There’s no crying in softball, huh?

We’ve watched more than 500 games over the years, coming to love Eden’s teammates and their families, sharing their joys and sorrows in and out of softball. Though Eden hopes to play in college, we’ll never have this close community again. It’s precious, and addictive. A whole bunch of former players and their parents came to the championship game, to relive it.

Afterwards, we took over a popular restaurant. We ate and drank, watched reruns of key plays on a laptop, and jumped on chairs singing and shouting, including my silly signature cheer:

“ELKHORN NUMBER ONE!

“CAN’T BE NUMBER TWO!

“COME ON, EVERYBODY,

“DO THE ELKHORN BOOG-A-LOO!

“AH-BOOG-A-LOOOOOO!!!!!!”There were quiet moments celebrating a different kind of victory, too. The championship game was against Beatrice, a perpetual softball power. Their pitcher is Tara Oltman, an All-State ace. We beat them twice to take the title this year, just like last year. Last year, Eden didn’t know their pitcher when she boomed the winning hit to the fence. This year, Tara’s a dear friend, because the two of them spent the summer together on a traveling team.

After the game, they hugged and cried. Eden surprised Tara with a DVD she made commemorating their summer season. Tara gave Eden a picture of the two of them after their last game, with their arms around each other, smiling through their tears. It was framed in a silver ball glove. That’s the real victory: opponents, yet friends. What a life lesson.

Next morning, I started to wash Eden’s uniform for the last time. The outfielder’s grass stains and ballfield dirt from sliding would come out. But the good things gained from softball are in Eden’s heart forever:

How discipline, training and practice pay off, bigtime.

How to overcome adversity, be aggressive, play fair, accept defeat with grace, and be a loyal teammate.

How to use your sense of humor as a leadership tool.

Lessons well learned. And now it’s time to move on. The season’s over, in more ways than one.

So I scrubbed those uniform stains for the last time, musing and smiling over all the memories. Spittin’ seeds! Rhubarbs over bad calls! The look on a coach’s face when a girl who was slumping follows his advice and gets the game-winning RBI at State. . . .

My heart flooded with emotion. That happened to Eden.

That’s God: using lowly things like softball so that, if you let Him coach you, you can get game . . . and make big plays when it counts.

Tears filled my eyes and plopped down onto the fabric.

Anyone who says there’s no crying in softball: YERRRRR OUT!!!

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Prayer request: We stand up against discouragement and division for a dear neighbor who is dealing with a mean boss and impossible demands on his time right now. His job woes are spilling over onto his marriage and family life, with insomnia and arguments making life pretty miserable. Father, we are grateful that his wife has asked for prayer for a swift resolution. Hear their cry! May his career take a positive new turn and may their home life improve drastically, for Your glory. (Psalm 10:17)