unconventional

To All Former Players of Coach Patrick McCarthy:

As I watched the 2011 Faulkner Baseball Team dogpile on the mound, as I watched them crack open the bottles of sparkling grape juice, as I watched them chant and cheer and hug, I felt you all with us.  I had this overwhelming sense that we were standing on the shoulders of giants.  We were celebrating not just the accomplishments of this group of guys, but the teams that came before them. 

You made Patrick the coach he is today.  God used you to teach him and mold him and help him grow.  Without you, and the sacrifices you made, this impossible dream would have never been realized. In the good moments and in the bad, Patrick loved each one of you for what you were teaching him and how you were helping him grow.

We love this team.  This team is filled with special, awesome, strong young men.  Guys who deserve where they are going and have worked so very hard for what they are getting.  But that very first night, mere hours after the moment we knew we were going, Patrick said, “I love all my other teams just as much.  I had wanted this for all my other players, too.  Those guys were just as good and worked just as hard.  Those guys helped us get here.”

As we celebrate, I want you to know that you are on our minds and in our hearts.  We haven’t forgotten you or the sacrifices you made.  Hearing from many of you these past few days has been just as sweet as the victory that day.  As cheesy as you may think this is, we simply love you. Thank you for all you were to us then…and all you continue to be to us today.

And we hope that you know you share not just in this recent championship, but in every win!