"Release the Tracken" & Undefeated Baseball

Great play on words (thanks Ira) in the title as it will make sense once you read on down. Freaking awesome Tuesday night sums it all up...

After another three-day trainer session it was time for a day of rest (more mental than physical) so instead of the trainer and a movie at lunch I defended the Nation's interest in COD MW2.

Left work a little early yesterday to make it Jake's Hillcrest track meet in SGF. Deb had to drop off Ian at his game (oddly just a handful of blocks away from JFK (Jake's meet location) before she and her dad showed up to the meet minutes prior to Jake's run (perfect timing).

The meet was pretty small (7 schools), but the quality was good with Lebanon, Kickapoo, Parkview, Hillcrest... Coach is still holding Jake off the 4x800 to keep his leg from flaring back up so it was another night of the open 800. He was pretty nervous heading into it as he has never come close to beat a couple of the Lebanon studs (one was top 5 at 4A XC championships) and he was hoping to stay with them as long as he could for a solid time. Gun goes off and as expected he is sitting comfortably on the Lebanon guys until... at the 395meter point the timer gives them the split 1:03 and Jake immediately shoots to the front, opens a 15 meter gap within 50 meters, and is laying it down. My initial thought was "oh no, boy what are you doing?!?!?!", but turns out he knew exactly what he was doing as the split was too slow and he was there for a solid TIME and not a PLACE. The #1 Lebanon kid took out after Jake and at the 700 meter mark was within 6-8 meters when Jake dug deeper and continued to dig for the line for his first ever varsity win in the open 800 (and against one of the guys he looks up to). He ran a 60 second last quarter to bag a 2:03 (another PR - third in a row). I had never seen him attack an entire race like he did last night; he is running as an entirely different person as of late as his confidence is growing is believing he belongs at the front.

***Jim A took all the above and below pictures (AWESOME). The end of the race was not captured due to he and Deb were going nuts in the stands cheering (don't blame him one bit). Take a look at the last pic above and especially at Jake's face - as is sheer determination and will to win (Ira labeled that pic as "Release the Tracken!" - HA).

After a couple high-fives with Coach Bandy and a quick smile to Jake Deb, Jim A, and I were out of there and on the quick drive to Ian's ball game. I was totally numb with happiness for the boy.

Ian's Bandits played another undefeated team last night and came away with a 11-3 win (now they are the only undefeated). Quite the support crew showed up for his game as g-ma/g-pa Appleby, g-ma/g-pa Jones, Jim, Cheri, Ashton, and Alexandra (Deb and I, of course) was cheering them on. Ian is splitting first base duties with another really good player and is in left field every other inning, but last night he got a little taste of catcher. He likes 1st and left, but is not heading back to catcher anytime soon. If you ask Ian he was 2 for 2 hitting last night, but one was a force out at 2nd which really doesn't count as a successful hit (on base percentage is a different thing). He is having so much fun playing ball with his pals.

Jake gave me a call during Ian's game (first chance we had to talk after his run) and his first words were asking how Ian's team and Ian were playing. I think that is pretty cool to come off your best effort and still interested in how things are going for his little bro. Needless to say Jake was on cloud 9!

***The first clip is Ian giving the crowd a 'fanning' as he swung and missed; he hit for a single on the pitch after it. The second is the boy doing what he does on first. Pictures are on the way***



After the game it was a quick stop at Braums and then back home. Ian was shuttled off to bed quickly and Jake was still pretty stoked when he got home. In discussing his race he thought the Lebanon guys were right on his shoulder the entire second lap and had no idea the gap he caused; he was encouraged (even more) with that knowledge.

After AM practice this morning Jake met up with Deb, her dad, Ian, and I at Brenda's for breakfast. A great way to start any day is having my crew together laughing and enjoying the time together.