Blake has started another "freshman" year of college at Carl Albert State College (CASC) in Poteau, Oklahoma. The baseball coaches really wanted him up there because they needed an outfielder and a lefty at the plate. Blake fit the bill perfectly. I have not watched Blake get that excited in a while. Blake was red shirted last year at Texas Wesleyan so it gives him an additional year of playing time. The only problem with Blake going to Carl Albert State College (CASC) is that it is over 4 hours away from us.
Blake and I drove up to Poteau on August 14th the Sunday before school started to get checked in and take care of a few things on Monday morning like books. Michael came up Monday night. Tuesday morning we finished getting school things taken care of and got Blake settled in his dorm and met his new roommate Dillon. Dillon seems like a great kid. It sure was hard to leave. I don't recall the last time I cried as hard as I did when I left my baby boy in Oklahoma. It just about ripped my heart out.
The Vikings had their first fall baseball game this past Sunday September 4th, 2011. Michael and I didn’t leave to go up the CASC until almost 3 PM Saturday evening. (We had to make sure my dad was fed and had plenty of snack and drinks until my friend Amy could come check on him a couple of times on Sunday. ) When we finally got to town Blake met us at the hotel. It was so great to hug him. I didn’t want to let go. He was in the middle of doing wash so before we got to take him out to dinner we ended up at the laundry mat for about an hour. I didn’t matter what we were doing as long as we were all together. After we finished the laundry we went to Western Sizzlin. We hadn’t eaten at one of those in ages. After we ate we went back to the hotel and Blake was leaving for the dorm before 11 PM. We were fine with that. He had a couple of games the next day after all.
We tried to sleep in because Blake’s game wasn’t until 1pm and check out was at 11pm. We got ready and went to lunch and got set up for his game. I have some great shots. I will try to get them up loaded. The team we played didn’t do well at all. Come to find out it was prospect/select club. It wasn’t even another college team. It explained why the kids on the opposing team weren’t fielding worth a darn. It took a while for anyone to get a hit because the pitching was slow. I know Blake walked once. Had a line drive to I think it was left center. He hit a grounder back to the pitcher. I think there was another one but I don’t recall. He made contact but didn’t get a hit sadly. Blake had a couple of great catches out in right field. I only have pictures for one of the catches.
No tears this time on the way home. To be honest I was a little surprised. Blake seems so happy that I can’t be upset anymore. I can only hope and pray he stays happy always.
Everyone should be as blessed as we are to have a son as great as Blake. I love you son. Good luck on the season. I know God has great things in store for you.
