LJWorld Reader blogs

The fact that Jay Rusk's 14-U softball team took the field Saturday night at the American Fastpitch Association's B-division national qualifier tournament was inspirational in itself. Less than a week ago, Krystal Bateson's mother found her 14-year-old daugther unresponsive while at a softball tournament in Winfield. What was even more moving was the fact that Kenneth Bateson, Bateson's father, didn't just come to watch his daughter's team take the field without her for the first time, he assumed his normal position as the scoreboard operator."It's the best seat in the house," Bateson said as he sat down next to me at the scorer's table. I had sat there because the bleachers were full with fans there to support the Phenix. I never knew Krystal, but her death hit close to home for me. When I heard the news about Krystal, I immediatly had an image in my head on what her family and teammates were going through because I knew what it was like to play on a competitive fast-pitch team like the Phenix. Spending the day at the tournament with the Phenix teams triggered memories from when I used to be the 14-year-old girl travelling around Kansas playing in softball tournaments. During the summer, I would spend more time with my team than my family. We'd play MASH in the back seat of our parents' Suburbans during the long drives, sing kareoke at the hotels we had stayed at, and do all the girly stuff off the field not to mention the on-the-field support system you developed after playing together summer after summer. You could see the Phenix's family-like support system out in full force with fans with Krystals number, a flower memorial in the dugout, and words of sympathy and encouragement.I didn't want to press Kenneth by asking him the same questions he had been bombarded with all week. So we just watched the game, kept score and talked. A spider spun a web on the mesh of the chain-link fence. We didn't talk much about the past week, but Krystal came up because his life revolves around her and and his son, David. Talking to him made me think of his relationship with Krystal is a lot like mine with my dad. I've always been a daddy's girl. Not just because I like sports and stuff, but we think alike. We tell the same long stories and corny jokes over and over, but more importantly we can relate to each other better than anyone else can.Throughout the game Kenneth told me about Krystal and her love for sports. He had coached both Krystal's softball team and, David's baseball team. My dad helped coach me and my brother and sister's teams when we were younger too.Maybe it was my remincent mood or because Fathers day was the following day, but I had to keep my sunglasses on even after the sun went down to keep him from seeing my tears. Here he was experiencing what I imagine to be the one of the most tragic events that can happen to a parent, and I'm the one who's weak.My conversation with Kenneth helped me to see the softball game from a new perspective Saturday. It was more than a game, it was a chance to escape to my past. I kind of think it was kind of like that for Kenneth too.I left the game completely touched. I thanked Kenneth for talking to me, went to my car, and called my dad.