It is inevitable that the time for our kids to branch outside of the comfort zone of home will come for all of us, especially if we participate in extracurricular activities such as travel baseball. As a family with a 12 year son that participates in select baseball (travel) we always new there may come a time when we would not be able to watch and support Blake or his team play. This time has presented itself as he has been asked to support a local select team that suffered an injured player and the team earned a birth in the USSSA World Series Championships in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Normally the the team and parents have the entire season to plan for such an event which happens to be a week long of baseball games and special events, but as a substitute family, we unfortunately did not have this within our plans and could not mange the time or financial commitment required within such a short period of time. Blake will be traveling with the team without us, and for the first time, we will not be there to support or watch him or the team play. We are all disappointed and I personally am confident in his abilities to contribute and enjoy his role with his teammates, but again this is uncharted territory for us all to include Blake who is only 12, but is a great student of the game with a “Christmas like” excitement for the opportunity.

The Titan families he will be traveling with are some of the most genuine folks we have met in all of our baseball experience, and we are absolutely certain that he is in a good environment, but we sincerely regret not being there. I can only hope that he maintains the strength and confidence to continue finding enjoyment in playing the game of baseball vs. a direct focus on the competitive hype in what will be the largest stage yet for him personally. I’ve preached this to him over that past 7 years of a player/coach relationship, but it was always easy to remind him of it the morning of a game during the car ride over. He’s a genuine spirit that just learned how to blow a bubble last week!

He leaves this Friday, and all we can do is stop counting the days until with mixed emotions due to his excitement and dedicated commitment for the opportunity that the Titan coaches, players, and parents have given him. We will be getting updates often and are even planning a way to attend the semi-final games, all of which are dependent upon the scheduling results of their seeded play. If we are unable to attend, we want him to know that he and his teammates are for the first time out of sight on the playing field, but definitely not out of mind. I have personally watched him grow not only in the game, but mature as a young man that is ready to embrace a new journey that happens to be without the shadowing or direct guidance of his parents or older sister this time, and we look forward to discovering how he will share his positive experience with us.

I will be using this post to keep track of each of his updates and record our experiences, but wanted to certainly wish Good luck to the Titan organization and players, and thank them for supporting us to make this work.

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