One of the great joys of Facebook is keeping up on the activities of family members. Over the past two years, I have followed my nephew, Matthew, as he honed his pitching skills as a member of the Roanoke (VA) College baseball team.
While in Omaha last fall, I texted his parents this picture of the Ameritrade Park, which I was told is the site of the college baseball championship games. "Wouldn't it be cool if Matthew's team could make it to Omaha?" I'm sure that they were thinking, "Wrong division, Chris", but sometimes it is just not worth the effort to try to explain the mysteries of the NCAA to a college sports novice like myself.
Well, fast forward to the past few weeks, when Matthew and his Roanoke Maroons became the South Region Champs and earned a trip to Appleton, Wisconsin for the Division III championship. No need to figure out this "D3" stuff ... all I need to know is that it is the perfect reason for an RVenture road trip! Time to cheer on Roanoke!
The Maroons had won their opening game on Friday against the #1 "seed" ... another term for me to try to figure out some other time. All I know, is that when we got to the stadium on Saturday afternoon, all the people in maroon were pumped for another win!
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| Go Noke! |
Doug quickly found the biggest and best seat in the stadium!
Great-nephews, Will and Sam were prepared to catch that stray foul ball!
Matthew and his team, of course, were totally focused on the task at hand ... another win!
They took an early lead with a couple of solid hits, but unfortunately, Washington & Jefferson College would prove to be a tough opponent. Strong hitting gave W&J the win. Roanoke was able go on to beat Concordia University Chicago on Sunday ...
but was unable to pull off a win when they faced W&J again Sunday evening, thus ending their championship quest.
But the frowns from Matthew's biggest fans quickly turned to smiles when we realized that family time together is the greatest prize in this championship!
We all became winners as we shared:
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| "Tailgating" Smiles |
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| "A Runner Scores" Smiles |
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| "A New Brewery Visit In Between Games" Smile |
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| "And They Serve Real Wisconsin Cheese Curds" Smiles |
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| "Getting the Player's Autographs" Smiles |
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| "Posing With Our Famous Baseball Player Cousin" Smiles |
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| "We Are Proud Of You" Smiles |
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| "We Got The Senior Discount ... And These Cool FREE Sunglasses" Smiles |
And Best of All ...
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| "We Caught A Foul Ball" Smiles |
Life is Good!
Until next time ... Share a Smile with Family ... And enjoy the adventures in your life!
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