Three years. Three years of sacrifice, of countless hours, of blood sweat and tears working to get better on dusty fields, or in the rain, under a scorching sun most of the time.
Three years to be a champion today.
No one could have imagined this in September, when the team was struggling to a 10-23 start. No one but the players who kept working, and the coaches that kept cheering, cajoling and pushing the team to be better, to fight harder. To believe in one another.
Movies usually feature crazy things like a team finally finding itself, and going on a 22-2 run. Movies usually tell stories like a magical 13-0 run in the citywide tournament, but this was no movie. These boys lived it, and today, after a brutal 4-3 come-from-behind win in the semifinals, and a dominant 8-1 victory in the finals, this team can say that it's the first team in the 30-plus years of the Taipei Thunders to win Taipei's City Cup.
Alec (aka "#1 Son, by a full minute), the captain, took home the trophy for Outstanding Hitter in the tourney, batting .365 over the past two-plus months, and capping his run with a 5-RBI performance in the finals. JK (that'd be "#2 son) won Outstanding Pitcher, punctuating things with three shutout innings in the final, and going 8-0 with a 0.96 ERA over the same period, while batting a tidy .444.
What a team. What a year. We could not be more proud. Our hearts are overflowing. Now, on to Nationals (since we can't have the regular international tourney this year)!
Good things happen, y'all. Just keep the faith.
Three years to be a champion today.
No one could have imagined this in September, when the team was struggling to a 10-23 start. No one but the players who kept working, and the coaches that kept cheering, cajoling and pushing the team to be better, to fight harder. To believe in one another.
Movies usually feature crazy things like a team finally finding itself, and going on a 22-2 run. Movies usually tell stories like a magical 13-0 run in the citywide tournament, but this was no movie. These boys lived it, and today, after a brutal 4-3 come-from-behind win in the semifinals, and a dominant 8-1 victory in the finals, this team can say that it's the first team in the 30-plus years of the Taipei Thunders to win Taipei's City Cup.
Alec (aka "#1 Son, by a full minute), the captain, took home the trophy for Outstanding Hitter in the tourney, batting .365 over the past two-plus months, and capping his run with a 5-RBI performance in the finals. JK (that'd be "#2 son) won Outstanding Pitcher, punctuating things with three shutout innings in the final, and going 8-0 with a 0.96 ERA over the same period, while batting a tidy .444.
What a team. What a year. We could not be more proud. Our hearts are overflowing. Now, on to Nationals (since we can't have the regular international tourney this year)!
Good things happen, y'all. Just keep the faith.
