On Wednesday evening the Helping Up Mission softball team won the third and final game of their league championship series.
Going from 1-15 (with a forfeit our only victory) in the first year to 17-7 last year (losing the third game of that championship series 35-32), we went 19-5 this season.
After winning our division playoff this season (our fifth year), we lost a close first game and then won game 2. That night game 3 was postponed for darkness and then postponed 2 more weeks for rain.
After spotting the other team 7 runs in the first 2 innings on Wednesday, and the wind kicking up what appeared to be another storm, the weather settled down and TEAM HUM came roaring to life – outscoring our opponent 16-2 in the last 5 innings!
Player-coach Tom Bond (who pointed out to me that he went 3 for 4!) says no single player deserves recognition, but he did note that we have 2 excellent second basemen – Pete and Kevin. Tom let them decide who would play the final game and HUM grad Pete stepped aside to let HUM undergrad Kevin play, demonstrating a lot of character, the same type of character the team showed in overcoming a 7-run deficit. This is the kind of stuff which makes recovery work!
It isn’t clear where the championship trophy will sit – in the HUM lobby or Coach Tom Bond’s office(!) – but we will all frequently and proudly point to it.
Congratulations, guys, may this be just the first of many victories to come in your lives.
One Championship at a Time,
Pastor Gary Byers
Spiritual Life Director