Momentum: the more you win, the more difficult it becomes to stop.
Unfortunately, even the best rides must eventually come to an end.
Like a snowball careening down a mountainside, the Athletic Supply Magnolia Little League Senior Division team picked up wins as it rolled over the competition. The team, made up of 15- and 16-year-olds, remained undefeated until the very end of the season, finishing with a record 29-2, one of the best in Magnolia Little League Seniors history.
Their only losses were the final two games of the season, losses which unfortunately stopped them just one game short of the district championship.
"The kids are disappointed for sure," team coach Blake Musser said Monday. "It's so hard to go through 29 straight wins, then to lose two in a row and be out of the race. But that's baseball, I guess. You win some, you lose some."
The team's exceptional success throughout the season came as little surprise to Musser and team manager, Dave Bowman.
"This is the best group of kids I've ever coached," Musser said. "They're really well-disciplined. I wanted to teach them how to win, and they really followed through. They figured out how to win, and they just went through that on a daily basis."
"These are kids who've been in Magnolia Little League forever," Bowman said. "They've had success in the past, but never at this level. It seems like all of them matured into their bodies and into the game all at the same time. They had quite a season this year."
Bowman and Musser, both veteran coaches of Magnolia Little League teams at many levels, have been working with each other and the majority of the kids on this year's Seniors team for the past three years. Both coaches said they are impressed with the way this particular group of players gelled so completely, and they cede the glory of the team's season completely to the players.
"Every single game there was a different hero," Musser said. "There're 15 kids on our team and every one of them had a chance to be a star. It's a matter of each and every team member responding well to whatever comes his way."
The team had hoped to take the district title, which would have taken them to the state championships in Vancouver, Wash. Up until the final innings of the season, the players' attitudes and grace under fire were an inspiration to their coaches.
"They didn't seem to be affected by the pressure at all," Bowman said. "That's why they came as far as they did."
"Dave and I were the ones who were a bit rattled," Musser said. "It's more nerve-wracking than anything to be undefeated. Even though we probably had the best team on the field, in the back of your head you can't help but think that at some point in time you'll have to lose. But the kids were just so confident. They would just show up like, "ho hum, here we go, let's beat this team." They held up really well."
"This is just a great group of kids with a whole lot of potential," he added. "My guess is that, five to 10 years down the road, you might see a couple of these guys in Major League uniforms somewhere."[[In-content Ad]]
