Life throws you curve balls, this I know for sure. This year I have missed two of the things I love most; watching my son play baseball and coaching. With a new job, my schedule makes it hard to get to the things I have always had time for. And with senior day approaching, I keep thinking of the group of freshmen I coached back four years ago that are now seniors of this team. Kids grow up so fast as any parent knows. Like baseball, the count keeps changing. My two daughters are married, I am a grandfather, my oldest son will be married this July and Mario has only one year of college left.  My dad also has now been sick for the past three months and is turning 90 this Friday. He has told me how he wants things back like they were, when him and I would be at home playing catch in the yard. As the senior class end their high school careers and move forward with the next step in their life, I hope they rememember the little things. Like playing catch with there Dad, going to a ball game with him or even just watching a game on tv. It’s the little things we do in life with our parents that help us with growing up, but we never think about it at the time. As in life, baseball is a game of doing the little things. You can look terrible one day and do great the next. It may be the last baseball game at Issaquah High , but there is plenty of baseball left in each one of the seniors on this team. For me, I missed a lot of the year at Issaquah high baseball and a lot of my sons Mario college baseball games. I can’t get the games back to watch and like playing catch with your dad, I can’t get that back either. So for all you seniors, before the year is out, do me one favor; ask your dad to play catch in the yard. Do it for me, because down the road you will be glad you did.

I miss my buddy’s Rob, Cappy and Bruce and Jerry keeping score, the practices and all the bus rides to the games. But as the season winds down, think about all the little league games, the summer games you played and your high school experience. This is your time to shine. So as the playoffs near, do the little things that got you there and go play a little catch with your dad because baseball is great game and you are part of that greatness. To all the seniors: thank you and remember you are lucky to have a Rob, Cappy and Bruce..

Thank you parents for have great kids,.A side note my grandson Brody had his first T Ball game and I missed it

but there is still alot of baseball left so lets go win a state title love you all Coach Steve

http://youtu.be/3IF5dZfXTFc

THIS IS THE START

The Huskies fell to 1-2 on the season. The UW beat Missouri State in the opener before dropping games to Nebraska and Air Force, which improved to 2-1 with Sunday’s win.

Air Force scored in each of its first seven innings. Falcons starter Michael Ceci (1-0) went seven innings, allowing two runs, for the victory. UW starter Aaron West (0-1) suffered the loss, giving up six runs over two-plus innings.

Washington sophomore Chase Anselment went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles and two runs batted in while classmate Jacob Lamb was 2-for-5 with his second homer of the weekend, along with a double. Huskies Brendan Gardner-Young and Troy Scott also drove in a pair of runs. Patrick Lobo led the Falcons’ offense, going 3-for-4 with four RBI.

Air Force got started in the first as Alex Bast doubled to drive in one and then scored on a single from Seth Kline.

In the second, back-to-back, run-scoring triples from Lobo and Garrett Custons sparked a rally. Custons then scored on a single from Blair Roberts, staking the Falcons to a 5-0 lead.

The Falcons made it 8-0 in the third as Lobo drove in two with a bases-loaded single and Roberts sent home another with a base hit.

Washington scored its first run in the fourth when Anselment doubled down the right-field line and then scored on a two-out single from Troy Scott.

Air Force’s Nathan Carter led off the bottom of the fourth with a home run and Custons hit a two-run homer in the fifth to stretch the lead to 11-1.

Lamb opened the sixth with his second homer of the season, to right center, but Air Force answered with two more in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single from Val Schierholtz and a sacrifice fly from Lobo. Parker Mayo’s three-run homer in the seventh made it 16-2.

In the top of the eighth, the UW’s Eric Peterson singled and Lamb doubled. Anselment followed with a two-run double to make it 16-4.

Washington rallied for six runs in the ninth. Brian Wolfe walked and eventually scored on an error. After the bases were loaded, Gardner-Young doubled to drive in two. Scott followed with a two-run single and Willy Reel doubled to drive in another, closing out the Huskies’ scoring for the day.

The Huskies travel for a three-game series at Cal State Bakersfield next Friday through Sunday and then open the home schedule on Thursday, March 3, with the first of three games vs. BYU.

To finally reach it really means a lot,” he said.

Curtis, who underwent surgery for testicular cancer during his freshman year of high school, played three years of college baseball at Arizona State University before being drafted by the New York Yankees in the fourth round of the 2006 draft. He then began working his way up the minor league ladder.

He got the call from the New York Yankees June 20, and he was on a plane to Arizona the next morning. He made his first major league appearance as a pinch hitter against the Arizona Diamondbacks just hours after landing.

“It was kind of a rush, packing stuff, then getting on a plane the next morning and then playing in a game that night,” Curtis said. “I just packed my bags and went.”

Although he failed to get a hit in his first at bat, he returned the following night as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the eighth inning and smashed a two-run double for his first major league hit, helping the Yankees win 9-3 over the Diamondbacks.

After his hit, the umpire halted play, gave Curtis the ball and told him he only had 2,999 more to go, referring to the 3,000-hit milestone baseball players try to achieve.

Curtis is now staying in Manhattan, and he has played in games against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners, Toronto Blue Jays and Oakland Athletics.

His first game against the Mariners was at Yankee Stadium, but the Yankees came to Seattle for a series from July 8-11.

Curtis started July 9 and 10 in right field, and went 1-4 July 9 with a double and 0-4 July 10. In the 12 games he has appeared in, he has racked up 25 at bats, one run, 4 RBIs and five hits. He is hitting .200, and three of his five hits were doubles.

“Coming back here and playing in Seattle where I grew up is an absolute thrill,” Curtis said before the game July 8. He had flown in with the team from Oakland the night before, and he took teammate Kevin Russo — who was also recently called up from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre — out to lunch that day and showed him around the city, since Russo had never been to Seattle.

Curtis’ friends and family were on hand for the entire series. However, his father Jed, mother Janet and older brother Conor may be his three biggest fans, as they traveled to Arizona on short notice to watch the entire series. They then followed the team to Los Angeles.

Colin Curtis blows bubbles with gum while watching the game from the visitors’ dugout at Safeco Field.

“It was exciting for us,” Jed Curtis said. “It’s been a long time in coming, from Little League to high school to Arizona State and the minors.”

He said seeing his son on the field reminded him of Little League games from long ago.

“It brought back a lot of memories from those games at Tibbetts Field,” Jed Curtis said.

Issaquah High baseball coach Rob Reese also flew to Los Angeles to see Colin Curtis play. Reese, who coaches the Lakeside Recovery Senior American Legion team in the summer, was in San Diego for a tournament when Curtis and the Yankees came to L.A. Curtis is the first Issaquah player for Reese to reach the majors.

“It’s incredible when one of your old players plays in the big leagues,” Reese said, adding he watched on TV as Curtis got his first hit, and got to meet and congratulate him after the game in L.A.

Issaquah High assistant coach Steve Sanelli, who coached Curtis in high school and on a Little League all-star team, said he has been watching and listening to Curtis’ games on TV and the radio as if Curtis were his own son.

“It’s a thrill for me just watching him play,” he said. “It’s a huge thrill just knowing him. Hopefully, his success will continue and he’ll keep playing.”

He said Curtis never changed his style from Little League onward — he chases down balls, swings his bat and smiles the same way he did when he was young.

At a recent tournament, Sanelli spoke with baseball scouts who said they thought Curtis would have been called up to the majors two years ago had he not been with an organization as dominating as the Yankees.

“It’s hard to break in when they have multimillion-dollar guys in the outfield,” Sanelli said.

Curtis said playing for the Yankees has been quite a ride, and he has enjoyed traveling with the team.

“It’s exciting to see all the different cities and playing in different environments.”

He said one of the toughest pitchers he has faced so far was Seattle’s Felix Hernandez, who he faced off against in New York on June 30. However, he said all pitchers in the league present a significant challenge.

“Everyone you face is going to have good stuff out there,” Curtis said. “That’s why they’re in the big leagues.”

He comes back to Issaquah during the holidays, and he stayed in town for the all-star break, July 12-15.

He said his favorite baseball players of all time are Ken Griffey Jr., Kirby Puckett and Roger Maris.

Could Curtis ever play for the Seattle Mariners? Who knows. However, he said he’s happy where he is.

“I’m in such a great situation right now,” he said. “I love playing for the Yankees, and it’s such a great organization.”

To all of the young players, he says to always keep playing and chasing their dreams.

“I’d say never give up on your goals,” Curtis said. “Even when you’re in a rough patch, just keep playing hard. If you love it, eventually things will work out. Just keep going after it.”