July 21, 2005

sports

It’s OK to cry at t-ball

By Jimmy Chesire

Ethan Pogue comes dashing into first base, his blonde hair the color of freshly baled hay, his blue eyes piercing. He tells me with great enthusiasm that he is 4! Not just a plain, flat, matter of fact 4. No, he is an animated, startling, rousing, remarkable “FOUR!”

“And next year I’ll be 5!!” he exclaims rapturously.

This is awesome stuff. This is miraculous revelation. This is monumentally astounding, impossibly beautiful stuff.

“And then I’ll be 6!”

I kneel in the dust luxuriating in his ecstacy, spellbound once again.

Six!? Six!?

Like, who can imagine?

Later that night I tripped him. We were both coming in off the small diamond. I was chasing an errant ball, he was heading for the bench. I stepped in front of him and stepped on the edge of his shoe and foot, bumping him with my leg, knocking him to his knees. He went down hard, both his knees banging, pile-driving, trip hammering into the ground — and that dust, that fine, powdery dust that’s so wonderful to sift, so delightful to push around and pile up, so perfect for making cakes in, so fantastic for kicking and plopping down in, it’s soft, yes, but the ground beneath it is hard as stone, solid like a skull. Young Ethan is down and in pain.

I dip down next to him, feeling terrifically clumsy and klutzy. I swoop down and around, making a cowl of my body as I try to surround the boy with an apologetic tenderness.

“I’m sorry,” I say, “I’m sorry. It hurt, huh?”

“Yes,” he says, “it hurt,” and I can both hear and see him braving his pain, willing himself not to cry.

He’s sitting, his head bowed. He’s not crying, he’s recovering — have you ever banged your head on a kitchen cabinet? Or crossed your legs when you were sitting at a desk, and in the crossing, slammed your knee against the underside of that desk? The pain coming fast, sharp, nauseating. Stopping you cold?

Well, that’s how it is with Ethan sitting in the dirt along the third baseline.

“You’re being brave,” I say with mixed feelings — he’s brave because he’s not crying? Because boys shouldn’t cry!? I tell kids, boys and girls, “Go ahead, cry. It’s OK to cry. It’s good for you. It’ll ease your pain. It lets the pain out, go ahead, cry.” And here I am telling Ethan, this shooting star of a child on the verge of tears, that he’s being brave?

“No, I’m not,” he says softly, surprising me.

“What?” I say, scooting around in front of him. I sit. I face him.

“I’m afraid of the vacuum cleaner,” he says seriously. His face is like an open window on a beautiful spring morning. His confession is stark.

“Yeah,” I say, picturing my four cats running for cover when I come zooming by with my trusty Hoover Elite II upright.

“Yeah,” Ethan says, “I’m afraid of the vacuum cleaner. And the lawn mower.”

I nod, listening, attending. “Yes?”

“And the leaf blower.”

I am amazed. The boy’s total honesty, his simple humility — and the reminder of the dangers inherent in a 4-year-old’s life — moves me. And helps to heal the wounded little 4-year-old boy still living in my 60-year-old t-ball coach’s heart.

And that’s the Perry League — brave, honest, humble, healing — Yellow Springs’ t-ball program for girls and boys ages 2–9, where every kid is welcome regardless of race, color or creed. We’re at Gaunt Park every Friday night, from 6:30 to 8, and you can begin playing at any time — but we’ve only got three more Friday nights left in our 2005 season (Aug. 5 is our final night, our potluck-picnic trophy night), so be sure to come on down. Ethan and all the rest of us would love to have you.

Sea Dogs brave postseason waters

By Ali Thomas

The Sea Dogs followed up last week’s win against Peoples with another solid victory over Green Acres, 449–193 on July 12.

The Yellow Springs girls outscored the girls from Green Acres, 200–139, while the Sea Dog boys outscored their rivals, 249–54.

Results of the girls events:
6 and under: Julian Roberts, 1st, 25 backstroke, 25 freestyle; Olivia Chick, 2nd, 25 back, 25 free.

7–8: Maeve Laughlin, 1st, 25 free, 2nd, 25 back, 3rd, 25 breaststroke; Charlotte Walkey, 2nd, 25 breaststroke, 25 free; Julia Tarpey, 2nd, 25 butterfly; Logan Chapman, 3rd, 25 back, 25 free; Cecilia Comerford, 3rd, 25 fly; Laughlin, Olivia Greco, Chapman, Walkey, 1st, 100 medley relay, 100 free relay.

9–10: Megan Carlson, 1st, 50 free, 25 fly, 100 individual medley; Mary Lewis, 2nd, 50 free, 3rd, 25 breaststroke; Rachel Meyer, 2nd, 100 IM, 3rd, 25 fly; Erin Grote, 2nd, 25 free; Rachele Orme, 2nd, 25 breaststroke; Robyn Weigand, 3rd, 25 back, 100 IM; Mychael Roberts, 3rd, 25 free; Carlson, Roberts, Orme, Lewis, 1st, 100 medley relay, 100 free relay.

11–12: Elizabeth Malone, 1st, 50 fly, 50 back, 3rd, 100 free; Kylie Meyer, 2nd, 50 back, 3rd, 50 fly; Marlee Layh, 2nd, 50 free, 3rd, 50 back; Jade Turner, 2nd, 50 breaststroke, 3rd, 100 IM; Kacie Miller, 3rd, 50 breaststroke; Malone, Layh, Meyer, Turner, 1st, 200 medley relay.

13–14: Meghan Meyer, 2nd, 100 free, 100 IM, 3rd (tie), 50 fly; Barbara Jewell, 2nd, 50 breaststroke, 3rd (tie), 50 fly, 3rd, 100 IM; Kasey Koehler, 2nd, 50 free, 3rd, 50 breaststroke; Jenny Barnett, 2nd, 50 back.

15–18: Jenny Riehle, 1st, 100 free, 50 free, 2nd, 100 IM; Lasena Badger, 1st, 50 back, 2nd, 50 fly, 3rd, 100 free; Bethany Traeger, 1st, 50 breaststroke, 3rd, 100 IM, 50 free; Sarah Brown, 2nd, 50 back, 50 free; Natalie Sanders, 2nd, 50 breaststroke, 3rd, 50 fly; Olivia Dixon, 3rd, 50 breaststroke; Miriam Barcus, 3rd, 50 back; Riehle, Traeger, Sanders, Badger, 1st, 200 medley relay, 200 free relay.

Results of the boys events:
6 and under: Nathan Gillman-Baggett, 1st 25 back, 25 free; Hayden Orme, 3rd, 25 free.

7–8: Theron Orme, 1st, 25 free, 3rd, 25 breaststroke; Aman Ngqakayi, 1st, 25 breaststroke; Liam Weigand, 1st, 25 back; Fielding Lewis, 2nd, 25 back, 25 free; Brennan Miller, 2nd, 25 breaststroke; 3rd, 25 back; Jason Brown, 3rd, 25 free; Lewis, Brown, Orme, Miller, 1st, 100 medley relay, 100 freestyle relay.

9–10: Chris Brown, 1st, 50 free, 100 IM, 50 freestyle; Eli Biggs, 1st, 25 back, 2nd, 50 free, 100 IM; Taylor Ford, 2nd, 25 back, 25 free, 3rd, 50 free; Brown, Ngqakayi, Biggs, Ford, 1st, 100 free relay.

11–12: Sam Lovering, 1st, 50 back, 100 IM, 50 breaststroke; Matt Salazar, 1st, 100 free, 50 free; RC Worrell, 2nd, 100 free, 50 breaststroke, 50 free; Zeb Reichert, 2nd, 100 IM; Ryan Biddinger, 3rd, 50 back; Salazar, Worrell, Lovering, Reichert, 1st, 200 medley relay.

13–14: Zane Reichert, 1st, 100 free, 50 back; Owen Sanders, 1st, 50 breaststroke, 50 free; Kevin Brown, 2nd, 50 breaststroke, 50 free; Jake Kintner, 2nd, 50 back, 3rd, 50 breaststroke, 50 free; Reichert, Sanders, Brown, Kintner, 1st, 200 medley relay, 200 free relay.

15–18: Andy Johnson, 1st, 100 free, 1st, 50 breaststroke, 50 free; Kelby Dierking, 2nd, 50 back, 50 free; Dan Gummel, 2nd, 100 IM, 3rd, 50 back, 50 free; Wishart, Johnson, Dierking, McCuddy, 1st, 200 medley relay; Gummel, Johnson, Dierking, McCuddy, 1st, 200 free relay.

July 14 meet
The Sea Dogs lost, 383–293, to the Gators at the Greene Valley Recreation Club on Thursday, July 14.

The girls swam neck and neck, swapping the lead throughout the evening and ending up in a tie at 170. The Yellow Springs boys could not overcome the deficit of missing most of their swimmers in the 11–12 and 13–14 categories and 92 points went to the Gators, uncontested. The Gator boys outscored the Yellow Springs boys, 213–123.

Results of the girls events:
6 and under: Olivia Chick, 1st, 25 back, 3rd, 25 free; Julian Roberts, 3rd, 25 back.

7–8: Charlotte Walkey, 2nd, 25 breaststroke, 25 free; Cecilia Comerford, 3rd, 25 breaststroke, 25 free; Logan Chapman, 3rd, 25 back.

9–10: Megan Carlson, 1st, 50 free, 25 fly, 100 IM; Mary Lewis, 1st, 25 back, 25 free, 2nd, 50 free; Erin Grote, 1st, 25 breaststroke, 2nd, 100 IM; Rachele Orme, 2nd, 25 back, 3rd, 25 free; Robyn Weigand, 3rd, 25 fly; Mychael Roberts, 3rd, 25 back; Rachel Meyer, 3rd, 100 IM; Lewis, Carlson, Grote, Orme, 1st, 100 medley relay, 100 free relay.

11–12: Erika Chick, 1st, 50 fly, 50 back, 50 free; Elizabeth Malone, 2nd, 50 fly, 50 back, 100 IM; Kylie Meyer, 1st, 100 free; Marlee Layh, 2nd, 100 free, 50 free, 3rd, 50 back; Jade Turner, 2nd, 50 breaststroke; Meyer, Malone, Turner, Chick, 1st, 200 medley relay; Chick, Meyer, Malone, Layh, 1st, 200 free relay.

13–14: Meghan Meyer, 2nd, 100 free, 50 fly; Kasey Koehler, 2nd, 50 back, 3rd, 100 free, 50 free; Barbara Jewell, 2nd, 50 breaststroke, 3rd, 50 fly; Amy Brown, 3rd, 50 breaststroke.

15–18: Lasena Badger, 1st, 50 free, 2nd, 100 IM, 3rd, 50 fly; Sarah Brown, 2nd, 100 free, 50 back, 3rd, 50 free; Bethany Traeger, 2nd, 50 breaststroke, 3rd, 100 free; Olivia Dixon, 3rd, 100 IM; Brown, Badger, Traeger, Cait Watson, 1st, 200 free relay.

Results of the boys events:
6 and under: Nathan Gillman-Baggett, 1st, 25 back, 25 free; Fisher Lewis, 3rd, 25 free.

7–8: Theron Orme, 1st, 25 fly, 25 free, 2nd, 25 back; Liam Weigand, 1st, 25 back, 3rd, 25 fly; Aman Ngqakayi, 2nd, 25 breaststroke; Fielding Lewis, 3rd, 25 back, 25 breaststroke; Ian Chick, 3rd, 25 free; Lewis, Ngqakayi, Orme, Chick, 1st, 100 medley relay, 100 free relay.

9–10: Chris Brown, 2nd, 50 free, 25 back, 25 free; Eli Biggs, 2nd, 25 breaststroke, 3rd, 25 back, 100 IM; Taylor Ford, 3rd, 25 free.

11–12: Sam Lovering, 1st, 50 back, 100 IM, 2nd, 50 breaststroke.

15–18: Andy Johnson, 1st, 100 free, 50 fly, 50 back; Kelby Dierking, 2nd, 50 fly, 3rd, 50 back, 50 free; Dan Gummel, 2nd, 100 IM; Jake Wishart, 2nd, 50 breaststroke; Pete Lovering, 3rd, 100 IM, 50 breaststroke; Johnson, Wishart, Gummel, Dierking, 1st, 200 medley relay, 200 free relay.

Up next for the Sea Dogs
The Miami Valley Swimming Association will host the league championships on Saturday, July 23, at Wittenberg. The competition for swimmers 10 and younger will begin at 8 a.m., while swimmers 11 and older will swim in the afternoon, beginning around 2.

The Sea Dogs will close the season with the team’s annual awards banquet, family potluck and swim on Tuesday, July 26, at 6 p.m. at the Gaunt Park Pool. This event is only for Sea Dogs and their families.

Attendees should bring a dish to share, tableware and bathing suits. The event will include an awards presentation, water games and races. For more information, call Aida at 767-9280.

Minicamp for McKinney, YSHS football teams

A voluntary minicamp will be held for Yellow Springs High School and McKinney Middle School football players on Monday, Aug. 1, at 5:30 p.m., at the practice field behind McKinney.

Both teams will begin practice for the fall season on Monday, Aug. 8, at 5 p.m.

Athletes must have physicals to play sports

All athletes in grades 7 to 12 must have a physical each year. In addition, new laws require students to submit to their school a onetime consent form. These forms are available at the Yellow Springs school board office.

Physicals can be performed by personal physicians or chiropractors. Greene Memorial Sports Medicine will offer physicals on Wednesday, July 27, 5:30–8:30, at their offices in Xenia on Monroe Drive. These physicals cost $15.

The physicals and consent forms should be turned in on the first day of practice, which is Aug. 8 for fall sports in Yellow Springs.