The Last Chance

It was our last chance to play together. After being hit by COVID-19, our Spring 2020 Baseball
Season had to be cut short. This tournament was the only thing that allowed us, and our seniors,
to play together again, one last time.
We had a rally going in the last inning against Riverton, down by 2.
 Then, just like that, a pick-off at first and a ground out to end the game, we were done.
You could feel it in the air when the ump called the last out. It hit every player, parent, and
coach, that this was the end. I immediately got tears in my eyes as I watched the boys walk with
their heads hanging, tears forming, and arms around each other.
“I can’t do this,” I said as I turned looking at Breda, the tears already forming in my eyes.
She said nothing, but hugged me in comfort.
Coach Sunny, took all of the boys in for a last
“family” huddle down the first-base line. Breda
and I decided to stay back and allow Sunny time
with his boys’. Parents were pushed up against
the fence, trying to capture the team moment
through the camera’s of their cell phones. I
glimpsed over at Breda, and we both had lost it.
Tears were streaming down our faces, with no
end in sight. We sat in the dugout, in silence.
Silence so deep, you could hear the drop of a
penny.
 We turned to the sound of “Family on three… 1, 2, 3, FAMILY!” and that was our cue to
go meet the boys with open arms and make our way to the outfield to say our goodbyes to the
seniors.
I had never seen some of these boys cry, until today.
Coach Mantle approached me chuckling to himself, “Jesus Dyl, are you okay?”
“Do I look okay Mantle?” I replied as half of my makeup was washed off by tears. He
gave me a big bear hug, which I’m not really sure if it made me feel better or worse.
 The seniors followed forming a sort
of line, saying their goodbyes. Me
and Breda stood to the side making
sure that the players got their time
with all of the coaches. Sunny
spent a small moment with every senior, and whispered how proud he was of each and every one
of them. This graduating class was very special to him, for it was these seniors who were Coach
Sunny’s first set of freshmen when he began coaching at the high school. He made them into the
men and players they are today.
The boys walked over to us managers afterwards, small smiles on their faces trying to
hold the tears back.
Damon was next. I hugged him with a tight grip, “I am so freaking proud of you D. You
have worked so hard, and you are going to do amazing things in college.”
“Thank you for everything Dylan. I’m going to miss you so much.” I hugged him tighter,
without being able to get any more clear words out.
 I went through this process with every player, but one was especially hard for me. One of my
best friends, Brayden. He slowly walked over to me.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah” I chuckled. “But you’ve got to give me a minute before you say goodbye. I’m not
quite ready for that one.”
“Okay, okay”, he replied with a grin on his face.
Brayden and I had known each other for ten years. We grew up and did everything
together. But soon, he was leaving for college, and things would be a lot different.
We stood there looking at each other. I knew this wasn’t the big goodbye with him, just the
baseball goodbye.
“Okay, come here.” I gave him a big hug for a few seconds. It was strange because I
don’t think I’ve ever hugged Brayden before.
“Thank you for everything you’ve done. I really appreciate you,” he said softly as we
continued to hug each other.
“Thank you, for being one of my best friends. I’m so proud of you.” The tears were about
to come a little bit harder so I let go.
“You better keep in touch! Or I will fly out to Texas and kick your butt!” I said
sarcastically, with a small hint of seriousness.
“I will, I promise.” He replied, with a smirk.
 As I walked back to the dugout, I turned to see Brayden’s little brother, Austin, crying to
a point where he could barely breathe into the arms of a fellow player. I walked over, and
replaced him, allowing Austin to cry on my shoulder. “It’s okay bud.” I said as I rubbed his back.
“I know this is so hard.”
At this point, any eye makeup I had on before the game was no longer there, or now
under my eyes.
 Every parent was now on the field, hugging not only their son, but all of the other players
who were basically their son’s. I had finally contained myself to a point where I could take some
precious pictures of this emotional moment. I walked around, snapping shots, stopping every
once in a while to hug a player or two. I made eye contact with Kyle, who had eye black smeared
all over his face from crying, and walked over as he buried his face into my neck and sobbed.
Which made me begin to cry again.
By this time, I just look dumb. My face was blotchy, and my voice trembling. I decided it was
time to pack up and head home. Walking out to the car, I struggled to catch my breath. I sat in
my car and immediately began to cry again. I was both happy and sad. Happy that I had gotten
the opportunity to become friends with all of these boys, and watch them play their hearts out
together one last time. And sad because this was the, one last time they would play together.
However, I had to remind myself that this wasn’t the last time I would see them, even though it
would be different, these boys would always be my family.
A week after Last Chance, was Senior Night. I dreaded it. Absolutely dreaded it.

As all of us non-seniors stood down the line I told myself repeatedly, “You will not cry as hard
today as you did last week. You will not cry as hard…”

One of the team mom’s voices rang into the loud speakers at the field. It was time for the final
farewell. She began reading off messages from each senior’s parents to their son. Every senior
player walked down the line hugging each and every one of us.

I was doing great. Not a tear shed and we were nearly done with all seniors. And then Brayden’s
turn. The message starts, “Oh Brayden, how proud we are of you…”. I was still surprisingly
doing okay. It was my turn for a hug from him and his parents. Brayden’s hug, just fine. His
mom’s, I was still okay. And then after his dad, it hit me. After knowing Brayden and his family
since we were 7, he had just finished his high school baseball career.

I turned my head with hopes that the tears would stop forming and dry up. Next thing I knew, I
was wiping them from my cheek and trying to go unnoticed. Breda gave me a side hug and a
slight shoulder rub “It’s okay Dyl.” I sucked up all my emotions and finished the rest of the
farewells strong. I went around and did an extra goodbye to most players. I walked over to Cole.

“You are the only senior that I didn’t say my goodbye to at Last Chance,” I told him.

He quickly approached me and gave a hug that I never would have expected to receive from him.
“Thank you so much for everything Dylan. I am really going to miss you.” We didn’t let go for a
good minute, allowing his mom to get a precious photo of us.

I walked off the field looking back at the boys. I thought for sure I would hear from some of
them from time to time.

Today, I have not spoken to many of them since.

Even Brayden. It makes me realize that I met those
boys for a reason and got to be around them for that
amount of time for a reason. Unfortunately, they
weren’t meant to be in my life forever. But I will
always be grateful that they were in my life at all and
will always wish them the best, no matter what.