West Cocoa Chat

I can’t tell you how cool it was to see Steven playing on a Division 1 baseball field. He looked like he belonged on the field. Although the DLU Staff worked them hard he smiled a lot and was encouraging to the other players.

Any way, Steven could not have performed better during our 2 day stay at David Lipscomb U. The first day was a 3 hour practice, drills, and tests. Steven started the throwing drills from short-stop by diving for a ball hit up the middle, rolling on the ground, and firing a strike to First. It got a very audible, “Atta-boy” out of the Head Coach and a smile and fist pump from Mom and Dad.

Steven then moved to the right-field and threw several impressive strikes to third and home. A fellow parent standing next to me said, “Your son is very impressive.” I appreciated the complement and pray that the Coaches thought the same thing.
When it came to hitting, he was impressive again. Steven started off slow and then found his groove. If you’ve been to DLU’s baseball field, you know that there is a parking lot just past the leftfield fence near the Baptist Hospital. Steven nearly hit a car in the parking lot as one of his shot just went foul as it cleared the 330 left-field fence. He then hit one just left of the 400 sign in center-field that hit the warning track and bounced over the fence. It was the most impressive shot of any of the 64 kids until one on the last hitters took one out in left-field.

To say Steven was happy was an understatement. A couple of the DLU players who were helping to run the Showcase asked him how many offers he had received. To say that he was sore and cut up would be another understatement. He left it all on the field that day. Speaking of that day, the start of it started with a prayer. Steven asked us to pray for him before we left our hotel in Brentwood.

The next day (Saturday) Steven played in 2 games in which he was up 6 times and was on base 5 with 2 walks, 2 singles, and a double. Coach Forehand told our group that he would be contacting a few of the Camp’s participants. We’re praying that we get one of those contacts. In the end, Steven could not have done much better than his performance over the 2 days of the Showcase.

It was great to get to know my way from Brentwood to DLU as we had plenty of practice. We were able to hook up with Brittany who is a Freshman at DLU. After dinner that Thursday, Brittany showed Steven around the DLU Campus. In the process he ran in to some of the DLU baseball players. A catcher from Miami invited Steven to hit in the DLU Batting Cages the next morning. Steven then ran into the Head Coach and spoke with him for a few minutes.

I must say that no matter the outcome we were impressed with Coach Forehand. Most Coaches seem to be aloof at best but Coach Forehand was very personable. When he saw Steven Friday morning he remembered speaking with him and said, “Haven’t you been here for the last couple of days son?” He joked with us about how much hotter it had been in Nashville vs. Florida. In fact, he spoke to each parent and player that he met. It was a nice change in my experiences with Coaches.

So we ask that you continue to keep the boy in your prayers. He is praying that he ends up playing baseball for DLU. We’re praying for that as well but we’ll be happy with a college education from any school in the end although we’d love for him to have a Christian educational experience at the college level.

Now for the obligatory pictures: