Goodbye Matt

It's such a strange feeling, knowing that he's gone but not ready for it. It's always hard, especially for me, not only is baseball over, but the boys leave and I have to get back to work for "hell week" the first week of classes. It's an abrupt lifestyle change and very difficult to deal with all at one time. So if you have to deal with me this week, I'm sorry and I'll try not to be too cranky! I slept for 4-5 hours this morning and then woke up at 7, as usual but since Matt hadn't slept he was already up packing and he suggested we grab breakfast on the way to the airport. It was a good idea so we got his stuff, grabbed Jose and headed to Waffle House for something different. After the meal, we went to the airport and got the boys checked in, they both got "selected" (one way tickets bought by Matt's mom the night before) to be personally screened (watch that boy with the huge ankle wrapped up in an ace bandage) but thankfully that wasn't too long of a process and they made their way into the terminal with plenty of time to spare. The layover in Denver was supposed to be about 30 minutes but they got about an hour due to the connecting flight being held back. I've napped off and on since they left and am trying to stay up long enough to hear that they've made it safely to Orange County and go to bed late enough to be able to sleep the whole night and be ready for the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL tomorrow! Yuck!

Rain, rain, go away

Yes, it is strange to think in a time of drought that I don't want any rain but so far, every playoff game in Denton has had a rain delay. Tonight's game was no exception. Scheduled start time was 7:35, actual start time (after two storms moved through) was 9:05. Thankfully it's a Saturday night but Matt is seriously bored, not being able to play and all the other guys are ready for a game that they need to win and I'm just exhausted to start so it's a rough way to begin. Finally the rain stopped, the field was cleared and the game began. The McKinney pitcher threw an incredible game, striking out a record 19 batters, including two of our guys 4 times each. Needless to say, we did lose the game and thus ends the season. It is a frustrating way to go, with several injured players and tough losses, but it was another incredible season for these guys and they did good to get to the Championships 2 years in a row! And the good news for us is that Matt seems to be getting around better tonight than he was this morning, great for him and his recovery and he doesn't have to sit on sidelines anymore as there are no games left. It is everyone's last night together so the Hunt's, Felan's, Kelly, Jose, and Matt all join us at IHOP for one last meal together. It's a good time, even though we had the strangest waiter and it sure took a long time for food at 1 am! Ask Kelly about the waiter sometime. By 2:00, the families head home and the guys head over to Craigs for their last team gathering. Many of the guys are headed out tomorrow morning for home or school so they have their last chance to be together tonight. I've finished Matt's scrapbook (yeah) and now I will get a few hours of sleep before we take Matt and Jose to the airport around 9:00.

Ouch!

Championship game one vs. McKinney was tonight. We took a beating but that's not the worst of it. The game was tied at 1-1 in the fourth inning when Matt singled and then advanced to second. Then a pop fly got Matt running back to base and he was tricked into thinking the guy had the ball so he ran in hard and rolled his ankle. That left him laying on the ground not moving, foot on the base and stopped the game. What a scary thing to see one of the guys hurt! He finally got up an hobbled around a bit but after the third out got him in from the bases he went out to the field but never got his range back and eventually had to leave the game with a baseball sized ankle. That was really a turning point in momentum for the game and we lost game one to McKinney after throwing out a lot of pitching and not much offense. Matt won't be playing the remaining games and hopefully he'll be able to walk on his own again soon, he's seeing the trainer early tomorrow for some more work on his ankle. I rode with Terry since Eriq couldn't get away and so after getting dropped off at the field for my car, I stopped by Whataburger and found Kelly, Matt and Jose and busted in on their party. How's that for a change, the chocolate malt was good and then to Kroger for milk and off to the house to make sure Matt can get upstairs to his room. That's it for game one, game two tomorrow!