Hooray for the Riptide

[Dale Ransom]

I recently experienced one of those moments that transcends being a modern parent.

To make up for all the running around, switching of schedules and sitting through two hours of a youth softball game in misty, 40-degree weather, my daughter Lauren’s team won the Norton Youth Softball U10 championship.

Pretty insignificant on the grand scale of things, but on that (finally) sunny Saturday afternoon, the planets were aligned and my little girl was on top of the world. Even if it was for a just a day, the ear-to-ear smile on her and her teammates’ faces will forever be imbedded in my memory.

With Lauren being involved in swimming year-round and now playing softball twice a week during the spring, my wife and I did our best to juggle our schedules. Throw in our youngest daughter Erica’s dance lessons and Brownie meetings, and it seemed as if we had something going on at least six days a week. I work nights, so the daytime activities weren’t too bad, but getting each kid where they needed to be during the evenings was sometimes a juggling act with too many balls in the air.

Still, somehow we managed and after Erica’s dance recital (great job Ms. Lorel!) and with school starting to wind down, we were actually looking forward to the softball season coming to a merciful end. It wasn’t that we didn’t enjoy watching the kids play, it was just that it this awful New England weather had worn us fans, and probably some of the girls, down. Amazingly, the Riptide never had a game rained out, but just about every game was played with the temperature in the 40s or low 50s and some amount of moisture in the air.

Admittedly, there were plenty of times Lauren begged to skip a game, but in an effort to instill a sense of responsibility in her, we slapped on an extra T-shirt and sent her out onto the field.

During the season, there didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary about the Riptide. They were a mix of 9 and 10-year olds, grades 3-5, of various ability. Their head coach, Gary Whitman, made learning and enjoying the game the top priorities, not the final score. Everybody played every position, including pitcher, and everybody batted at every position in the lineup.

One digression, in U10 softball, the first 3-4 innings consists of three runs or three outs, whichever comes first. This is truly a golden rule for the attending parents as many innings consisted of about nine straight walks with perhaps an infield dribbler thrown in. But the last inning is an unlimited one -- all you can get. The only other caveat is that a game can last no more than a couple of hours, so most games were four innings max.

Without boring you with what was basically a ho-hum season, the first game of the playoffs arrived on a Friday, a day that started out iffy and ended in brilliant sunshine. First up was the defending league champion Glory, a team most would probably call the favorites due to their above-league average pitchers.

The Riptide started out with a three-run second inning. And that was just the beginning of what would be an almost surreal game. Instead of the sloppy, multiple-walk contests that characterized the regular season, both teams we sharp – line drives were hit, and caught; grounders were scooped up and accurate throws made to the correct base; even the pitching was top-notch with nary a walk. The game moved along at such a brisk pace, that both coaches had to alter their normal pitching rotations. Instead of four innings, we were going five . . . no, make that six!

Glory tacked on a run; Riptide pushed two more across and Glory another. But that’s the way it ended: Riptide 5, Glory 2! You would have thought that was it was Game 7 of the World Series, the girls were celebrating like crazy and the parents were in as much shock as joy. The level of play was so far and above what they had witnessed during the regular season that it was truly fitting for the old cliché that it was a shame someone had to lose.

Going to the next day’s championship game was so unexpected that one assistant coach (who shall remain nameless) made a Saturday afternoon tee time with his dad as part of Father’s Day.

Because the other playoff game had been rained out Thursday night, the Thunder and Force were forced to play their semifinal Saturday morning at 9 a.m., with the Thunder winning. That set up a championship match with the Riptide at 1 p.m. in what was turning into a fairly warm afternoon.

Unfortunately for the spirit of competition, the game wasn’t very competitive. The young girls on Thunder were obviously tired, and the Riptide jumped out to a big lead early, scoring their allotted three runs in just about every inning to totally take the air out of the Thunder. Riptide’s pitching was again, spot on, the rout was on to the tune of a 12-3 clincher.

With smiles as big as the trophies they received, the members of the Riptide were crowned champions. After pictures and hugs all around, it was time to soak in just what had happened in the span of about 18 hours. I’m not sure Lauren really grasps what had happened. I tried to give her some perspective that I was only on one true championship team my whole life, and she should remember and cherish the whole experience.

Maybe because she’s only nine, the memory will fade. Maybe she’ll be lucky enough to continue and win championships in other team sports or on an individual level as a swimmer, but all I know is that for one shining moment, my little girl was as happy as she had ever been, and that was enough for me.

So for one last time, congratulations to the Riptide softball team, manager Gary Whitman and assistant coaches John Danko, Jim Russell and Greg DeGirolamo for winning the U10 Softball Championship. Team members include: Alison Whitman, Isabella Murphy, Emma Chisolm, Abigail Phelan, Lauren Ransom, Allison Russell, Abby Juliano, Jennifer Caramanica, Carli DeGirolamo, Laura Danko, Olivia DelTufo and Katherine Duranko.