June 7, 2007

sports

T-ball is not chaos at all

By Jimmy Chesire

Running is such an interesting thing. Kylie’d just hit the ball. That’s Kylie Johnson, Jeremy and Cary Johnson’s kid. Caden’s big sister.

“Are you 7?” I had asked her earlier when we’d been kneeling on the pitcher’s mound. She’d been making a pile of dirt, so I joined her, making a large fluffy dusty pile of my own — a wonderfully invigorating thing to do. Ask any gardener. Or any 6-year-old.

“No,” Kylie said, she wasn’t 7, admitting it with that deep sorrow children have about not being older than they are. “I’m still 6,” she went on, not taking her eyes off her very large and growing pile of dirt. “I won’t be 7 until my next birthday.” Which sounded like it was four hundred thousand years away.

“When’s that?” I asked, hoping to cheer her up. In the face of such sorrow and loss, one must do something.

“In September,” she said.

So she hits the ball on the first whack — she knows how to hit, being an old pro at this t-ball with four years under her belt — and takes off down the first baseline. Halfway to first, though, something magical happens. She shifts into some sort of poetic Shakespearean overdrive. She slows down and hunches her shoulders just a bit. She leaps now instead of dashing, leading with her left leg, which she lifts, or pumps, much like a linebacker might upon smashing into the line of scrimmage, that left leg as high as her waist, much higher than the right, so that leg is like the prow of a ship cutting its way through the waves.

Then there is also the expression on her face: she’s totally focused, staring dead ahead, her eyes fixed on something six feet in front of her, and on something within her at the same time.

She’s not trying to win a race, she’s not running at breakneck speed, she’s not killing herself, she’s simply loping along. And she is clearly enjoying herself, in a world of her own, becoming in this loping, languid, leaping run around the bases something perfect, unaware of the beauty of grace and form and concentration that she is.

She is like a filly worthy of the Kentucky Derby, or, with that distinctive spring of hers, she’s like one of those glamorous, high-stepping, galloping performing horses. What do they call them? Palestinians? Ostraginians? Prestidigitarians? Those Eastern European horses that can trot backwards? You know which I mean. One of those.

With my heart brimming, I switch diamonds and check out the littler kids on the small diamond. It looks like utter chaos to me. Matt Minde, he’s at a three-ring circus, he’s at home plate helping every kid get a hit. He looks frazzled, exhausted. “You okay?” I ask. He assures me he is. “Need a break?” I ask, sure he does. “No!” he says emphatically, his eyes laser beams of love and happiness. “I love it!” he says and I see he’s not frazzled at all. He’s just being a perfect t-ball coach, animated, alive, and as happy as any of the kids on the diamond.

He tells me he thinks they did “the switch” — where we blow our whistles and the kids on the diamond come into bat and the kids on the bench go out to field. “I think we did that,” he says, his halo glowing brightly, “but you can blow your whistle if you want.”

So I do, I blow my stainless steel Acme Thunderer — The Acme Thunderer, made in England — and sing out, “Time to switch!” About 15 adults, some with kids at their feet, others with kids in their laps, and still others with kids sitting next to them on the bench, yell back to me, at me — as if in one voice — “WE JUST DID THAT!”

Oh. Never mind.

I see the chaos is not chaos at all, that there are 30–35 kids on this small diamond, 30–35 2- to 5-year-olds with at least 20 adults working with them, playing with them, shepherding them, making sure everyone gets a turn at bat, a chance to catch and throw a ball, an opportunity to run the bases, to get a drink when they need it, and to just have as grand a time as possible.

And that’s the Perry League, Yellow Springs’ t-ball program, the village’s unique beginner’s baseball program open to all our children regardless of race, color or creed. We’ll be out there having a ball at Gaunt Park for 9 more Friday nights (till our potluck/trophy-to-every-kid-who-shows-up night, Aug. 3). So why don’t you come on out? We’d love to have you, we really would.

* Jimmy Chesire has been coaching t-ball in Yellow Springs for many years. He is the author of A Thousand Strikes: T-ball Yellow Springs Style.

Bulldog baseball season begins

The third season of Bulldog baseball began on a hot afternoon Saturday, June 2, at Gaunt Park, against the Cedarville Baseball Club. Yellow Springs is once again fielding a team in the Dayton Amateur Baseball Commission, this year in the 16 and under traveling division. Many Yellow Springs High School players are on the team, including Ethan Brown, Cory Daniel, Lucas Donnell, Andrew Ferguson, Tyler Fox, Jonathon Haller and Jamie Kitzmiller.

Joining those players are Isaac Haller, Asa Casenheiser and Anthony Pettiford, along with Jake Kepler and Jarrett Moon from Jamestown and Jack Daily from Fairborn. Coaches are Ted Donnell, Dave Ferguson, Hal Moon and Todd Sheets Jr.

The game started with a strong pitching performance from Jarrett Moon, who kept Cedarville scoreless for three innings, and a shaky one for the Cedarville starter. The Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead with a lead-off single from Tyler Fox, followed by a line-drive single by Andrew Ferguson, both of whom scored on a single from Moon.

Unfortunately, Cedarville began to chip away at the Bulldog lead and the Dogs were only able to score 2 more in the fourth. Andrew Ferguson relieved a heat-drained Moon in the fifth and pitched well for the rest of the game, but it wasn’t enough to stave off an opening day loss of 10–4.

Coach Donnell expressed his pleasure in how well the team played given the heat of the afternoon and with only nine players on the field getting no rest. The team also had some new faces with the out-of-town players and Asa Casenheiser and Anthony Pettiford, who had been off the baseball diamond for two years but performed well with nice catches in the outfield.

Anyone interested in contributing to the team through the Yellow Springs Recreation League, should call Ted Donnell at 767-9967. The Bulldog’s home games, played at Gaunt Park, are listed below.

Wednesday 6/6 6:15 p.m.
Saturday 6/9 3:30 p.m.
Monday 6/11 6:15 p.m.
Wednesday 6/13 6:15 p.m.
Friday 6/15 8 p.m.
Wednesday 6/20 6:15 p.m.
Friday 6/22 8 p.m.
Friday 7/6 8 p.m.

Junior Olympic meet

The Miami Valley Track Club will sponsor a Junior Olympic meet on Sunday, June 10, at the Yellow Springs High School track. The meet is open to any youth in the Springfield and Miami Valley area aged 18 and under. Registration costs $5 and begins at noon. Field events start at 1 p.m., followed by running events at 2 p.m. Call 767-7424 for more information.