This weekend was a mix of emotions for our team, our fans, and especially a new member of our baseball family.
If you’ve seen the scores, you were probably surprised to see that we lost two of three games to Whitman. After all, they have a history of losing many games as long as most of us can remember. However, we proved there is truth to the old adage about baseball: any team can beat any other team on any given day. We let their history affect the way we played and were then outplayed to drop the first two games of the series. Our guys learned a tough lesson that every player learns at some point in their career: take no part of this game for granted.
It’s a good thing we play each series over a span of two days. We came out as the team we know we are on Sunday, winning handily behind a rejuvenated offense and a strong individual pitching performance. The brand of baseball we played today is the kind we know we can play; it’s simply a matter of getting out there and getting it done on game day.
The importance of winning conference games only intensifies as the season moves on, so taking the third game even though we were frustrated from Saturday’s performance was very important to us. It also meant we made a statement about our 2010 campaign that we will not tuck our tails between our legs and allow us to keep losing. We’re going to battle, regardless of the situation.
After Sunday’s game we held a ceremony that held more importance than any of our games. We welcomed Payton Northam as an honorary Lewis & Clark Pioneer in front of our entire team, fans and family. We met Payton several weeks back and have been touched by his story. Last year, he was diagnosed with a tumor and has just begun chemotherapy. Payton and our team have been joined through an organization called The Friends of Jacklyn (to learn more, visit their website: http://www.friendsofjaclyn.org/).
We showed Payton that he will forever be a Pioneer by unveiling a plaque that is placed on the front corner of the bleachers closest to our dugout. The plaque, which reads, “RESERVED for Payton Northam: Pioneer for life,” is placed where Payton sat during the first Pioneer baseball game he ever attended. Payton will always have a place to watch his team play.
Payton checking out his new ball that all the players signed.
Payton wearing his very own Pioneer baseball cap, which definitely has some room for him to grow in to.
Payton mentioned he wanted to catch, and our catcher took his words to heart in letting him try on his gear.
Payton has reminded us that there are things in life far more pressing than the game we play between the lines. We hope Payton has fun when he is with our team, and we want him to know he has many friends that care about him. Payton, you are a brave young man and we are very proud of you.
