Some great memories following your son

bump

 

good bump Braves, this is classic stuff...

... time for some of the new guys to share!

 

Memories

My son Paul is a senior pitcher at Greenville Rose. When he was 15 playing for Greenville Babe Ruth 15 yr old All Stars he pitched a no-hitter against Conley (rivals) Babe Ruth to win the district championship game, won the NC State Championship game against Lumberton, won the SE Regional Championship game against Sarasota, FL and from what I understand, was the first pitcher from Greenville Babe Ruth to win a game (two hit shutout against a New York team) in a Babe Ruth World Series. Some highlights recently, this past spring while pitching for Rose, he beat an excellent South Granville team with a 3 hitter (sorry Coach May) and he got a complete game win against Ardrey Kell in the 4A State Championship (2nd game) to help his teammates at Rose win the state title. Paul has taken me on some kind of baseball ride.

My son Scott graduated from Greenville Rose this past spring. He was a left handed pitcher for Rose, a good player but he did not get very much of an opportunity to perform in hs (at Rose, with so much talent, you have to be better then good to play) but he was there day in and day out, working hard, being a solid teammate, first off the bench encouraging his team, keeping a close eye on his brother Paul, and doing whatever RV told him to do. Even though he never got the baseball acclaim as his brother, I am just as proud of him and he has a state championship ring too. Plus Scott is an Eagle Scout so he has his accomplishments too. This fall Coach RV got Scott to coach the Rose 9th grade fall ball team. To know that RV thinks enough of Scott to have him help coach a Rose 9th grade team is quite a honor for Scott.

 

What great memories. As much as I enjoyed reading Paul's accomplishments, I am more impressed with the way Scott conducts himself....and to become an Eagle Scout is, in my opinion, a greater accomplishment than anything on a baseball field.

I know you are equally proud of both of them. Your sons have left you with memories that will last you a lifetime...congratulations!!!!

 

Great Thread !!

Great stories... Keep 'em coming.

 

Other baseball memories....

....as a parent of two boys that play baseball, I obviously get caught up too much into their exploits.

I have some great memories of watching other parents' kids play as well:

Watching Alex White and Ryan Graepel develop in Greenville Little League, through Babe Ruth and high school baseball and now watching them at UNC was and is a real treat for me. They had too many exploits on our prep fields to talk about but I remember watching Alex pitch for the first time when he was 10 and you knew that this kid was special.

Two years ago at Rose we had a player named Chris Staton. He did not have the best home life, was not that great of an athlete or baseball player but Rose's coach (RV) kept him around, let him be a student manager as a 9th grader for the team, gave him a spot on the JV's as a 10th grader and let him be on the Varsity as a 11th & 12th grader. He never played but he was part of the team and he was proud to wear the Rose uniform. I don't think I ever saw him without a Rose jacket on, even on a hot day. Well toward the end of his senior season, RV put him in as a pinch hitter against Washington HS and dang it if Chris didn't hit a home run over the right center field fence. It was one of the greatest moments I have ever witnessed at a high school game and the Rose crowd went absolutely wild (including myself). Chris is now an ECU student, doing well at ECU and playing club baseball. No telling what would have happened to him without baseball in his life. Most coaches would have cut him from their high school team but I think RV knew without something solid in Chris' life, he was bound for trouble and baseball gave Chris a foundation to lean on and motivation to say away from trouble. You know you hear about Ronald Vincent's high school wins and multiple state championships but stuff like what he did for Chris is why us Rose parents think RV is something really special.

 

That was a great story. Gave us, that don't know RV, an understanding why he is so special

 

Oh now I love that story. Thanks for sharing!! I work at a middle school with a lot of kids from bad homes. They usually excel at sports, but not with behavior or grades. That's a fine line, to decide whether to let them play and keep them out of trouble afterschool, and give them something to excel in OR should you even let someone with bad grades and behavior represent your school. (They always seem to do better with both during their favorite sports season.) It's always a tough decision. I see it both ways. Glad to hear of an instance when it worked out wonderfully.

 

By request

Originally Posted by ecu78


After visiting this site for awhile, I saw this thread and just had to add my special memory. My son liked to play baseball but was never great at it. He wasn't talented enough to play high school ball but he played summer ball whether it was Little League or Babe Ruth, He never made any all star teams or such. He was just good enough to start. Most of all, he liked to play Babe Ruth ball with his friends. The boys just had a good time even though success was hard to find. During a Senior Babe Ruth game one night, my son was playing first and a fly ball was hit behind first into short right field. He turned and hustled to make an over the head catch that Willie Mays would have been proud of. I just stood there not believing what I just saw. I was in awe. Before I could make my way out of the dugout (I was on scorebook duty) to congratulate him, he had already returned the ball to the pitcher and was in stance for the next defensive play. With the next pitch, a ball was hit to second and he dropped a perfect throw at first. I told him when he came in how pretty the fly ball catch was and then asked him what happened on the throw from second. I can remember how fast his smile changed into a lowered head. To this day, I regret not making a bigger deal out of the great catch. And now I can't. My son was killed almost two years ago, months after making that catch. I responded to this thread so I could tell the dads out there to make sure you appreciate the memories you have and ones to come. Make sure your son has a smile on his face after the game. More importantly, make sure you do to. Always be positive and somehow forget the "bad". Believe me, winning or losing a baseball game just isn't that important anymore. I would give anything to see that smile again.

 

This last post should be mandatory reading for all dads and coaches at every level, beginning at T-ball age thru high school.