Lancaster Blue Returns to Lewiston’s Lancer Cup Baseball Tournament

Last summer, I told you an emotional story about a heart-swallowing moment during one of my son's travel baseball games. My son's best friend and teammate was hit in the head with a line drive while pitching during a tournament in Lewiston.  This past weekend, our team returned for another tournament at the same park -- but with a much different ending this time.

A year ago, my son's travel baseball team, Lancaster Blue, left the Lancer Cup Tournament in Lewiston a little shaken. Ryan and his teammates were in the midst of a close game with a team from Clarence when his best friend, Riley, was struck with a line drive above his right eye while he was pitching.  The incident left a few of our normally tough boys teary-eyed, and everyone in shock.  We forfeited the game in favor of rallying around Riley.  We managed one last tournament game the following morning but left after a loss with an unsettled feeling.

The boys of Blue returned to Lewiston this past weekend to give the tournament another go-around.  Last year's accident was of course on everyone's minds from the first pitch.  As we approached the diamond where Riley went down to play our final game of the day Saturday, I somehow felt as though we had come back to face our past.  Riley joked about pitching.  After being hit, he did manage to get back on the mound to pitch again but has since decided he likes catching better.  The boys took the same dugout as last year, and this time, they finished the game.  They returned on Sunday to win both the semifinal game and championship game in their division.  It felt as though the boys had gone full circle, this time with a much more fairy-tale like ending.