My
Championship Experience is a diary blog written by Summit League
student-athletes detailing their experiences at each of the 19 Championships.
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May 20, 2014
Departure set for 11:59 p.m. Monday, May 20, 2014. My senior year is set to culminate with IPFW’s
first trip to The Summit League Championships and possibly more. We said
farewell to Fort Wayne for the time with hopes of returning with a Summit
League title, bragging rights, and memories of a historic journey.
The bus was filled with excitement and anticipation as we
boarded and got settled. This quickly dissipated as guys got settled as best
they could in order to get some rest as we traveled through the night. With
each movie that played more guys were snoozing.
We woke up starving and groggy, but luckily Sioux Falls
wasn’t too far away. We stopped in Brookings around 1 p.m. to eat and practice
at SDSU. It was nice to have food finally, but we knew practice would be tough.
Nonetheless, with full bellies and stiff muscles from the bus ride we grinded
out a productive practice. We finished
our trip to Sioux Falls and checked into our hotel. This looked to be the nicest hotel that we
had stayed in all year. I was happy to hear my roommates for the weekend as
well. After settling in we showered and left for dinner shortly thereafter. On
the bus ride back, we received the itinerary for tomorrow and returned to our
rooms. We were each excited to get back to rest in a comfortable bed after our
meal
May 21, 2014
I headed down to breakfast early hoping that I could get a
light workout in before our afternoon practice. The breakfast buffet at the
hotel was surprisingly good. After my
meal, I headed to the exercise room and followed that with a quick nap before
we reported to the bus to leave for the field.
As we arrived to the field you could sense the excitement to
be in a new environment. The independent league stadium of the Sioux Falls
Canaries served as a great venue. With only an hour time frame to practice on
the field, we moved along at a fast pace. We went through our batting practice
routine and broke off into infield and outfield groups for drills. The field
took some getting used to, especially for me and the other outfielders that
would have to deal with the unique angles of the outfield wall. Nonetheless,
this ended up being one of our most productive and energetic practices of the
year.
When practice concluded, we headed back to the hotel in good
spirits, confident about our chances tomorrow. We relaxed for a while before
getting ready to attend the championship banquet. I was admittedly slightly
overdressed as I sported suspenders, a bold red shirt, and my best shoes. We
were each happy for Carter DeBoe and Steve Lowden who earned First Team All-League
honors. At the conclusion of the banquet, we returned to our rooms to rest and
prepare for competition tomorrow.
May 22, 2014
As I woke up today, it began to set in that these could be
the last games of my college
career. Despite the emotion and memories from all
the great times that I’ve had with this group of guys I composed myself in
preparation for the game ahead. As I
worked through pregame, I tried my best to embrace the butterflies that came
with playing in my first league tournament. A great pregame speech by coach got
us focused as we got set to face the hard throwing right-hander from No. 2
Western Illinois. I led-off the game with a line-shot to left field that the
Western left-fielder ended up making a diving play on. Nonetheless, our
confidence was high as we traded blows all game with our league rival. Unfortunately, the game did not end favorably
for us as they ended the game on a walk-off single in extra-innings. After
almost four hours, it was tough to lose a close game that way. “Next Page!” our
coach exclaimed in his post-game talk. He was exactly right. We had no time to
feel sorry for ourselves, not with our season on the line tomorrow.
Most of the team returned later to scout out the competition
that we would face in our next game. It was fun to relax and watch for a
change, especially on such a beautiful night under the lights. As we watched
NDSU pull out the victory, we prepared our minds for taking on the No. 1 seed
SDSU tomorrow morning at 11 a.m.
May 23, 2014
After a tough loss with our best pitcher on the mound, we
still saw a good opportunity against SDSU to extend our season. I woke up
around 6 a.m. and headed down for breakfast. I ordered a spinach, mushroom, and
sausage omelet, which was a perfect way to start the day. We headed to the
field for batting practice and pregame. Everybody seemed focused and ready for
the challenge ahead. The game ensued, as we put ourselves in a three-run
deficit that we wouldn’t overcome.
As those last two innings played out, many emotions ran
through my head as I jogged out to center field for the last few times. I had
one last at-bat. I had to make the most of it. Evan VanSumeren led off the
inning with a double, advanced to third on a passed ball, and I followed with a
single to right. Even with one last glimmer of hope, we fell short once
again.
The post-game mood was solemn, as we seniors realized that
our college run was over. It was an amazing experience getting the opportunity
to play with such a great group of guys. As much as we hide our emotions, there was no
holding back as we remembered the season that had passed. To quote my good
friend Cody O’Neal, “All your life you dream of playing baseball with your
best-friends in the world. I’m glad I got to experience that with this team and
especially you guys (seniors). “
We stayed the night in Sioux Falls and departed at 7:30 a.m.
the next morning. Our journey had ended, but the friendships and bonds that I
formed throughout my four years at IPFW will last a lifetime.
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