Ordinary men doing the extraordinary

I had the privilege (and responsibility) of going to both the Princeton and Aycock baseball state championship series over the weekend. In case you were away on Mars over the weekend and didn’t hear, they both won.
I’ve also been, as some of you may have noted, working a lot of baseball games in recent weeks since we have made some staff changes. It’s been fun and I’ve come to know both teams to some extent.
I was talking with a writer from the Wilson Daily Times Saturday during the Aycock game, and the Beddingfield graduate mentioned that he went to school with both Aycock Coach Charles Davis and Princeton Coach Bruce Proctor. The two coaches grew up in the same area, through Charles is a few years older.
There are a lot of similarities between the two teams. Like most good high school teams, they start out with strong pitching. Both play good strong defense. Both teams have hitters who can pound the ball, and they can run up the score on teams, but both teams have run up on pitchers who gave their hitters problems.
Aycock has two pitchers who have already signed to play at Carolina and State, an indication of how highly regarded they are. They are two fine ballplayers, and although they can be dominating, another player, Jay Rose, was tapped as the MVP for that series.
I could argue that Ryan Daughtry is the best pure athlete on the Princeton team, and he was named MVP for their series. But during the year, a number of other players stepped up to make the big play and win games for Princeton through the year.
The point is the success of both teams was not based on one or two particular athletes, but as you would hope, both had rosters full of guys who had the confidence to, at the right time, step up and make the play that could win the game. Neither team went undefeated; both lost games late in the playoffs, in the East Finals for Aycock, and in the State Championships for Princeton. However, both had players who made the plays they needed to ultimately win.
A couple of former players who help coach also stand out to me. Allen Thomas, who is Charles’s brother-in-law, helps coach Aycock. Justin Willoughby, who was an outstanding pitcher in his day for the Bulldogs, is a key part of Bruce’s staff.
Friday afternoon, the Princeton game got particularly tight. The score was tied in the top of the sixth if I remember correctly, runner on first and potential winning run on second. It was one of those times when things could clearly have broken in East Surry’s favor.
I was watching through my camera lens as Justin went from the dugout to the mound with the knot in my stomach getting tighter, and he was grinning from ear to ear. As I was to learn later, he said something flippant to the infield gathered around their pitcher about how good he must look to get that kind of applause coming out of the dugout. The infielders broke out in matching smiles, and some of that tension must have eased.
Despite giving up a walk to the batter who was up, Daughtry got out of the inning without a run scoring, and Princeton went on to win the game.
I heard Princeton Assistant Principal Michael Price speak to the graduates Sunday morning at a church breakfast. In a reference to the recent movie, “Facing the Giants,” he said after Princeton’s win he was penning a screenplay to be entitled “Facing the (East Surry) Cardinals.”
That’s not a bad idea. We draw inspiration for living from stories like “Remember the Titans,” “Hoosiers,” and “Rudy.” The assistant principal made references to how he tried to offer words of inspiration to the team, and how they responded.
I met a man in Goldston Saturday night. He will be leading a group of volunteers going to Mississippi this month to build a church on the still suffering Gulf Coast. Their team of maybe 100 people will completely build that church during their week there. They have accomplished similar feats over the past eight years.
That group has adopted a slogan: ordinary people accomplishing extraordinary things. Their success has drawn others to their ministry. You might say the supernatural power they have displayed is attractive.
I think there’s a great story in our ball teams. I know you parents may see yours as extraordinary, but I see some kids who in some ways are not that much better than others fine kids playing in other uniforms, doing some extraordinary things. Like winning a state championship.
Congratulations on an extraordinary season.