What a week ...

We head to the Gold Championship Game tomorrow vs. the Covenant Christian Academy Falcons from Huntsville, Alabama. They are a very good team, great people, and we are looking forward to the challenge.

What a ride to get here ... After the disappointing loss to HCYA, we faced the Central Texas Chargers (Plus). They were "plus" because they played us with three West Houston Thunder starters in their lineup. So, we were facing a pretty good team that had a good working knowledge of our team.

A lot of you have heard tale of the "Centex Miracle," where the Mustangs scored 7 runs with two outs in the last inning to beat the Central Texas Chargers. Well, this deserves its own post. We'll come back to it another day. There were a lot of life lessons bundled into and learned from the Centex Miracle.

And by the way, HCYA defeated Raleigh. They are playing well, and will be playing for third place in the Platinum Division tomorrow. The Dallas Angels are in the championship game vs. the Atlanta Barons. Texas teams are acquitting themselves well here.

Tomorrow, we are wrapping up a great week here. We expect to play well, like we have most of this week.

Catch the radio broadcast of our game vs. the Huntsville, AL Falcons at www.hwsa.net. First pitch is at 10:30 AM CST.

Near Perfect Florida Images

Here are some pics from the first part of our trip to the Sunshine State:

This is Stadium Field at the beautiful Myrtle Park Sports Complex in Auburndale. It has been fantastic baseball weather this week under a blue Florida sky.

For the first time in their history, the Mustangs are in the house ... in Florida.

Here are the Mustangs at the Opening Ceremonies. Twenty-three (23) teams from around the country were introduced. Only two teams had no graduating seniors introduced. Only one of those teams is in the qualifying round of 16.

Check out the footwear some of these dudes from Tennessee wore to the Opening Ceremonies. Nice socks, too.

It's still a great state, even though alligators are everywhere.

Hey, we play tomorrow at 2 p.m. EST vs. HCYA. All three Houston-area teams here have made the qualifying round. We are looking forward to the challenge ahead.

Mustangs in Florida ... through Pool Play

For those of you following along at home, you know that we've won our first two pool games and now it's on to the Qualifying Games on Thursday. It's been a blast here so far. We had the hot start against the Montgomery Saints, followed by the battle against the Southwest Dallas Spartans ... where we trailed all game until we finally won it in the bottom of the 7th.

Really, it was just what the doctor ordered for us. We're learning a lot about ourselves, and we are finding we can compete... overcome adversity ... and have success ... under a lot of different scenarios.

The environment here is a lot of fun. I think it's a vision-expanding experience for our team. We've got 23 teams here from Texas to Wisconsin ... from Virginia to Louisiana. Our fans are bringing it and continuing to make a name.

We've got a lot of baseball to play. We're taking it one game at a time ... really one pitch at a time. Our motto for the week is: One pitch at a time ... just like practice ... have fun. And this is what we are doing.

We are off tomorrow, as folks are taking it easy and some are taking in a movie and others heading to the beach for a bit.

We've got two games on Thursday, one Friday and one Saturday.

But for now, the next one we'll be thinking about is our opponent on Thursday.

Opening Day in Florida

Well, we made it. After a 27-game season with twists, turns, trials, tribulations ... and triumphs, too, this youngest Mustangs Varsity ever is here in Auburndale.

Getting here was an adventure, too, with a car breakdowns and sickness along the way. In a strange way, I feel confident this morning that we've got them right where we want them.

I really enjoyed our time together with the parents last night. What a blessing.

Today we have Opening Ceremonies at 10 AM EST. Our first game is vs. the Montgomery, AL Saints at 7:30. The Saints defeated us last year in pool play, and they are a Number One seed. We play the Southwest Dallas Spartans at 10 AM tomorrow. I think we'll be ready.

After last night's thunderstorms, the weather for the rest of the week looks good.

Our team believes they are going to have a good week here. You can see that in them.

I do, too.

See you on the field,

Coach Rut

Whatever it takes ...

Don't you want this guy on your team?

Embrace the Process ... finishing strong and continuing on

I was talking to one of our parents the other night, and I told her that I am enjoying this season very much. But I also love the off-season. It's fun and rewarding to work toward doing one's part to help make a better better than before, yes, even better than ever. I really love doing this year-round.

As we come down the stretch, I would encourage you players to be working hard each day on your On-Your-Own assignments. You each have a lot of things you can be doing to stay sharp and get even sharper down the stretch. Are you working in a way that inspires and encourages your teammates?

And also, think about fine-tuning your routine on game days. How do you prepare to perform at an optimum level? You probably know this by now. If not, well, pay attention and put in place the pieces of an outstanding routine. If you have questions in this regard, talk to your teammates who consistently perform at a high level. See what they are doing and incorporate what works for you.

Looking into May and the summer, for those of you who want to take your game to the next level, I would highly recommend you look into playing baseball this summer and/or fall. And by that, I mean look into playing beyond our games in the Cooper League. The Cooper League is great, but I would highly recommend you look into playing more this summer and fall, and also you should look to play with quality players and against quality opponents.

Of course, each of us have things to work on and improve upon in the off-season. But playing in the offseason gives you a practical opportunity (especially against quality opposition) to measure where you are and get better.

In this regard, I am reminded of a story about the great Tom Seaver when he was warming up for Red and was about the Mets ... his old team. A teammate walked by the bullpen and told Seaver that his fastball "looked good". Seaver kept working. Then he looked at his teammate, motioned over to the Mets dugout, and said, "They'll tell me if my fastball is good."

See you on the field,

Lots to look forward to ... Lots to play for

Here's what's coming down the stretch ...

4/15 (Thurs) Varsity vs. Cooper -- Under the lights, we'll get another crack at our friends at Cooper. I expect an inspired effort by the Dragons and a battle that will prepare us for what is ahead.

4/17 (Sat) V/JV vs. the Angels -- That about says enough, but there's more. It's Family Day, with food between the games and a chance to visit with and welcome our visitors from Dallas. Also, the Angels are sticking around to play the West Houston Thunder's Varsity after our game.

And, oh, yeah ... the Angels value their relationship and rivalry with us so much that they are skipping the finals of the Texas Tournament to be here and play us.

4/19 (Mon) Varsity vs. the Power -- We finally return to Barton Park for a home game vs. the Power. Expect a battle and for the Power (who have beaten us twice this season) to come with a great effort.

4/22 (Thurs) JV/V vs. the West Houston Thunder -- Our JV and home finale at Barton. Our friends and rivals with the Thunder have been playing great baseball over the last half of the season. Last time we played them, they beat us, 13-8. This will be a great send-off for Florida.

4/26 (Mon) - 5/1 (Sat) -- Varsity competes in the Homeschool World Series in Auburndale, FL. This will be our first time to play out-of-state, and with the new format the field will be wide-open. Also, for those of you interested at the next level, HWSA informs me that there will be college scouts in attendance. As for us, we look at this as a great time to celebrate our season, play well (we always play well when we get to HWSA competition), and set the stage for the great things we have before us next season.

But hold on ... we have great things before us even now. Let's go get them.

See you on the field,

Coach Rut

Why I do what I do ...

Imagine a faraway field in Florida ... So, goes the story told by a man (still a kid inside) in his 40's:

"A team and its fans await the result of a year, no years of labor.

And a Mustang hitter in red and black waits on deck. It's the bottom of the 7th. It couldn't be, could it? Could it all come down to this? It seems it could, because it did.

Yes, this player had had his moments through the years and his baseball career. There had been ups. There had been downs. There had been in-betweens. And now it all came down to this.

The team had talked about preparing for moments such as these -- that the key was to treat it "just like practice" and stay in the moment. Go pitch by pitch.

Still, this was the moment. The Mustangs were down by one run in the last inning of the last game of the season. A championship was on the line.

As he was on deck, memories of the years of work, sweat, great days at practice, and tough days, too, were there. He laughed about how one teammate would always say the most amazing things that would make every one laugh at the right times, well, mostly the right times. Sometimes he irritated the coach, and the players laughed about that ... when the coach wasn't around.

He went over a few mechanical reminders in the on-deck circle as the opponent changed pitchers. Yes, it would be the opponents' ace to try and close it out. A few fans gave well wishes, and then a most amazing thing happened. He was calm and ready. It was amazing, but the practice, the off-season work, the ABC's, the practice and preparation had led to a quite confidence in this tense moment.

Sure, there were nerves. But they were the nerves of ready excitement.

Bases loaded, two outs, and the Mustangs trailed, 5-4. We were out of pitching. It was do or die. Two runs now to win, or lose either in this inning, or later.

Deep breath. Wait, another deep breath.

He stepped into the box. The Mustangs' fans were as loud as they had ever been, but to him they were so much background noise in this moment of moments.

First pitch. Strike one, but it wasn't his pitch. It was a fast ball at the knees on the outside corner. He stepped out of the box.

Next pitch. Ball one. A curveball up and away. Deep breath.

Next pitch. A ball. Wow, a close pitch on the inner half where he likes it, but just inside. 2-1.

But then the pitcher threw his pitch ... inner half at the thighs ... a fastball at about 84-mph.

And he swung. Right. Through. It. 2-2.

He stepped out. It was a "yellow light" moment. A = Act confident. Remember that time when he got a big hit vs. the Angels, and the ball seemed the size of a grapefruit. Ah, yes. That's the ticket. B = Deep breath. And control the breathing at the plate. C = Control those thoughts. "I'm the man. Next pitch is mine. Line drive up the middle. Let's go."

Back in the box. "Make my two-strike adjustment. Bring it."

It was then that everything just seemed to crawl to a near stop. The pitcher did the unthinkable. He threw that nasty curveball. It broke toward the outside corner ... nearing the knees.

But this Mustang hitter had been locked in on the ball seemingly for a baseball eternity, indeed, since it left the pitcher's hand. He had picked up the pitch and spin immediately, so when it struck his bat and resulted in a solid "ping!", he was not surprised. The line drive headed up the middle, just past the diving shortstop.

Runners were flying, and coach was frantically waving the winning run home from third.

Then there was the play at the plate .... they hit the cut-off, the relay was there, the slide ...

And ... SAFE!!

Mustangs poured out of the dugout in a mad celebration. They mobbed the game-winning hitter at first base. As his teammates headed toward him to mob him, even in that moment he remembered ... even in that wild moment ... to run the play out and make sure he got to first base so there would not be a force out.

The dog pile started between 1st and 2nd. Every player got on.

The coaches just looked, laughed, and hugged each other.

Mustangs fans cried. And they hugged. They cried some more. The coaches cried.

At the bottom of the dogpile was the Mustang who had got the game-winning hit. Amid the crushing weight, whooping, and laughter of his teammates, he thought how the best part of all was that he had done this with his friends.

Everything was worth it now. Everything.

Relationship with each other, their coaches, with their families, and ultimately withe Jesus Himself had held this team together and gotten them to this special moment. Now he knew. Now, he understood.

Winning was great, but it was better to have done it the right way, for the right reasons ... and with the Mustang Nation."

As the story above drew to a close, the former Mustang wiped tears from his eyes. Remembering that moment with his teammates was special, even more than a quarter of a century later.

And oh ... The former Mustang told this story now to his team ... the team that he now coached. And he concluded with this:

"And boys, no men, that's what I remember about being a Mustang ... that what we accomplished together was for a purpose higher than ourselves. We did it for each other. Ultimately, we did it for Christ. We worshipped together on the field, on that day and many others. Lives were touched and impacted for eternity. God was honored and I hope, no, I believe that He smiled at us.

Now, you go do the same."

And so it goes.

Easter and Baseball

What does Easter have to do with baseball? Well, let me think a bit.

I love them both, for one thing. They both take place in the Spring, for another.

I guess, most of all, they remind me of limitless possibilities.

You players have heard my tale of how I played for a team (8th-grade) that once scored 12 runs with two outs in the last inning. I started the two-out rally with an infield hit. The next time I came up to bat, I walked. I scored twice in the inning.

And we lost ... 13-12. The game ended with the bases loaded. Strike out ... swinging.

That game also marked the last day of my pitching career. My coach figured he couldn't do any worse with me, so he put me in to pitch with us down, 11-0. I gave up two runs and was relieved to get out of the inning with us down, 13-0. Just goes to show that every pitch and run are important.

I was almost the winning pitcher. I coulda been a contender.

I remember another game where I was listening to my favorite broadcaster, Gene Elston, call the Astros on one hot summer night when I was in junior high school. I spent a lot of my summer nights this way, listening to the Astros on the radio. This was before the days when all the games were on TV. Gene was a factual, mild-mannered broadcaster, the anti-Milo, if you will. He rarely got excited.

But on this one night, the Astros (who were hopelessly out of the division race) were down 5-0 and mounted a furious two-out rally to beat the Expos, 6-5. As Enos Cabell's single chopped through the left side of the Astrodome turf, Gene "the cool machine" became ecstatic ... screaming, for the first time ever, I think ... "Astros win! ... Astros win! ... they did it! Given up for dead, they scored 6 runs with two outs to beat the Expos!!"

I did the same, running through the house to report the result. If Gene was excited, it was time to party!

Oh, the beauty of this game. You know, even with a time-limited game, the game doesn't have a definite ending point. Some one has to get the last out. Until that last out is made, all things are possible.

We've seen Mustangs teams pull this off before, too, like our 6-run, two-out rally over Parker-Tarrant -- against a pitcher who just got drafted in last year's MLB draft -- in the Texas Tournament in 2007 ... like our 7-run rally in the last inning to beat St. John's in the 2008 Cooper Tournament.

You might say Jesus was "given up for dead", too, except He really was dead. The beauty of the resurrection story is that Jesus rose from the dead. People just didn't think He was gone from this earth; He was. But then He was back!

When I got my mind around this truth while I was in college, it literally saved my life.

If Jesus conquered death, then indeed all things are possible. It's never over, no matter how dire the situation. There is always hope. There is not only hope, there is a chance and a way.

With Jesus, the game is always still going. So, let's "play ball," if you will.

Happy Easter, every one.