Every sports fan has their top five or top 10 sports moments in life. My top moment was the 1985 World Series and watching the Kansas City Royals defeat the cross-state (and might I add—hated) St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. I was fortunate enough to attend Game Six which, as everyone knows, was the controversial one. But I won’t go into all that.
I recently had another moment creep into my top five, and it had nothing to do with a professional, college or high school sporting event. On Wednesday, June 27, 2012, my daughter’s first grade, coach pitch softball team, the Fireflies, did the unthinkable, the improbable, the unbelievable.
First, a little history. Candidly, the Fireflies didn’t have that spectacular of a season finishing 5-6-1 and seeding sixth in the postseason tournament. As a parent, I’ll admit, I had low expectations in the tournament for a pretty good team. On top of that, extreme summer heat was settling in, and I just wanted to see this season end soon.
Sure enough, the Fireflies won the first game, setting up one of the most exciting games of the tournament. Going into extra innings (extra time), the Fireflies dropped the second contest 15-14, pushing them to the loser’s side of the bracket. The game was not without controversy, however as the opponent used two players in the same position more than once, which is no-no at this level. Unfortunately, the coaches didn’t catch it in time.
Now, the Fireflies had to win five consecutive games over three days beginning on Monday, June 25 to win the tournament title…a monumental task.
Knowing there was no margin for error, the Fireflies took care of business in that Monday night game, and moved on to Tuesday night. Fortunately, that game lasted just three innings because of the 11-0 spread, so on to Wednesday and the potential for three games at 6 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. I packed sandwiches and several drinks. We were settling in for the long haul, but we knew, one loss, and home, we were headed.
The 6 p.m. game was against the team we had already lost to in the tournament, so this was the perfect opportunity to avenge that loss. And just like last time, it came down to the final inning, but no extra innings (extra time) were needed, and the Fireflies advanced to take on the team with only one loss all season long.
This was the championship round. The Fireflies had to win both games to win the tournament title. Lose one, and the season was over, but we all knew, the team could finish no worse than second place. Not bad for a team seeded sixth and that had not practiced since before the season started. The 7:30 p.m. game began. Back and forth it went to the end until the Fireflies were able to hold off the Ice Cream Sundaes and force one final game for all the marbles.
Now, game three of the night. It was shortly after 9 p.m. The girls were tired and hot, but having a good time. For the third game in a row, the score was close. In fact, the Fireflies led 11-9 going into the top of the last inning. The Ice Cream Sundaes tied it up 11-11 heading into the bottom half of the inning. In that inning, the first two Fireflies got on base. The third lined a single to left-center. The third base coach sent the runner from second home. The throw to the plate was offline. The game was over. Fireflies win 12-11.
The Fireflies had done the unthinkable, the improbable, the unbelievable. This team had won five games in three days through scorching heat, with three of those games coming in one evening.
When the winning run scored, I jumped out of my chair screaming, running to the Fireflies’ dugout, looking for my daughter. I wanted to high five her, hug her, celebrate with her. By this time, it was nearly 11 p.m. She was tired, I was tired, but the enthusiasm and adrenaline in that moment kept me, and I’m sure the girls, going. For me, it felt like 1985 all over again, of course on a smaller scale, but so what. This was much more personal, and it made me feel good.
I enjoyed the feeling of being that proud parent of your child. It’s not the first time that’s happened, and it won’t be the last, but it’s just one of the many memories I’ll take with me as I watch my daughter grow and become a woman. Those are the moments you never want to forget, and if it’s one of the sports memories that makes it into your top five, well then, so be it.
