The end of an era has arrived, ushered out with all the pomp and circumstance accorded the final graduating seniors from the Class of '06.  There will be speeches uttered and diplomas issued. It's the culmination of four years, four very quick years for every baseball player and his parents.  The time just zoomed by. And now it's over.

Wasn't it only yesterday that we saying goodbye to middle school, thankfully biding adieu to the days of driving our young athletes to and from baseball games/practices? Of course it was. There was so much to look forward to then. Four years of high school beckoned, issuing a challenge for the students to test themselves both academically and athletically.

We parents went along dutifully, looking forward to following the progress of our athletes and the growth of our students. This was when our children would bloom into young adults, right before our eyes--just like our babies had transformed into toddlers and then into preschoolers.

Suddenly, they were entering high school--taking their first steps on the junior varsity before shaking off that awkwardness as they progressed to the varsity. And we were with them all the way, steadying them as they went when they needed it. Most of the time we just stood back and admired them as they took off in directions we could not have imagined.

And we sat and watched. And watched. And watched. Somehow, we all survived those excruciating long extra-inning games, the baseball games and practices that took place in the hot summer heat. If you didn't know another team parent before the season, you did by the end of a few long games.  Or weekend.  You even got to know the other team's parents.

Those same familiar faces showed up later in tournament games or play-offs.
Strangers now had become friends, linked together by the strongest of threads--our children.

Two - three times a week, like clockwork, we sat in our usual seats or stood in our usual places on the sidelines. We were luck when we were the home team and could listen to the best announcer in the State, Roy Christensen.  As we watched our young adults at play, the folks talked and swapped stories. Friendly faces soon had names to go with them. We quickly became more than just the parents of our athletes.

These friendships continued, through the spring and into the next fall as our athletes grew from JV to varsity.

As springtime bloomed, so did our athletes. The calendars that hung on our refrigerators were clogged with game dates and times. If the children weren't at practice, they were at games. There was something going on every single day, or so it seemed. Parents with one child?  Oh, were they the lucky ones.

It was kind of fun, however, to be pulled in so many directions by our athletes. After all, we shared that exasperation with our fellow moms and dads. A day didn't go by when a parent had to leave a player at one game to go watch an athlete at another. It was like an inside joke we all shared, and we had to laugh at ourselves. We all had to be crazy to be doing this. Those parents with more than two athletes competing at once, of course, were certifiably insane.

We gladly put ourselves through these hoops, knowing full well that time flies a great deal faster than Kern & Holden’s 90+ miles-per-hour fastball.  Even in their freshman year, as we looked forward to the varsity days a year or two in the future, we knew it would be over before we knew it.

And now it is.

For more than one family, it ended May 5th in Palm Beach. There, David Christensen started the game with a home run & tied the Douglas single season Home Run Record with 10 and the Douglas career Home Run Record with 17.  Danny Kern followed with a single and scored on a sacrifice fly by Joey Hage. Danny Kern started on the mound and pitched six complete innings recording five strikeouts. In the bottom of the first the Broncos answered back to take the lead. During the next few innings the Eagles tried to mount a comeback but were unable to score. In the seventh inning with two outs Christensen reached on a walk and stole second. Kern followed with a single to put runners on first and second. Sean Ochinko singled to left driving in Christensen for the final run of game and the year. But it wasn't to be - at least not this year.  We were coached well, but the Eagles just couldn’t pull this game out of the hat.  The Eagles finished the year 1-1 in Regional play and a tremendous 47-11 over the past two years.     

Afterward, Eagles tears flowed. It was more than just a season-ending loss. For the seniors, it meant the end of their high school careers. That realization hit home harder than Ochinko’s 400 ft. home run over Sunrise Blvd, against Taravella, or Ryan Radonski's three run home run against the Bulldogs.

Those same emotions will flow this week, for senior athletes and their parents alike. For this is a shared goodbye--to school, athletic careers and friendships. For those of us without an athlete in high school next year, those days of working the concession, sitting and watching, complaining and enjoying, are on a lengthy vacation. The bleachers will be without our voices.

But not for too long. We'll return to support the soon-to-be seniors and their parents. We have to.
These past few years of shared experiences are too important to be dismissed so easily.

While college pulls us in one direction, we'll keep that umbilical cord to high school intact.
We need to, we know the Eagles want us to return and return often.

And we'll be back for that odyssey, full-time and loving every minute of it.

Thank you parents for always being there when you were needed – your child may not say thank you YET, but you made a big difference in his life!

Underclass Parents – The ball has now been pitched to you – make good use of it & enjoy your years as an Eagle Baseball Parent as they go much too fast!  Support your school, your coaches and your players.