Trip to Idaho

My son's college baseball team made it to the NAIA College Baseball World Series (YAY!) so my husband and I followed the team up there to cheer them on. It was quite a trip...to say the least. First, my husband made the mistake of getting into the Alaska Airlines First Class/
Frequent Flyer line at the airport baggage check-in. You see, he wasn't
a Gold Card passenger...just Silver Card (according to their records) plus, he didn't have his frequent flyer card with him...which means that he couldn't use this "privileged" line anyway...so we got quite a tongue-lashing from the lady at the counter. Next thing we know...we got "chosen" for body and baggage search at the airport screening area!
She sure punished us!! At least I got the prize from the screeners for
the "neatest purse" that day. Some consolation and comfort.

Meanwhile, we were hungry and the line at Starbucks at the gate was long! Got a coffee and egg bagel at the pizza place there...they knew
what they were doing!

We get on the plane and reach Seattle on time. Our connecting flight
on a prop job plane was in 2 1/2 hours...so my husband checked if
their was availability on an earlier flight. We got onto the flight which stopped in Pullman. At Pullman, they overbooked and needed 3 people
to take a taxi (45 min. ride. vs. 9 min. plane ride) to Lewiston. The reward was 2 round trip tickets anywhere Alaska flies in the
continental U.S.! We jumped on that!

Our taxi ride was...interesting. The "cab" was a van...which looked
like it hadn't been cleaned or washed in months!! Ugh!! Oh well...we thought...still worth it for the free plane flights. Next, my husband noticed the taxi driver appeared to be getting drowsy. He shook his
head a few times while at the wheel! Charlie asked him, "Hey buddy...
you falling asleep?" He said, "no, just squinting from the sun in his
eyes." I thought...ever hear of sunglasses?? The guy was obviously
falling asleep so for the entire 35 minutes left to drive, my husband talked to the guy constantly to keep him awake! We heard his life
story...

Anyway, we stayed at the Red Lion Inn. Same hotel that the team was staying in. It was nice...had a small refrigerator and microwave. The people in Lewiston were all very nice and very welcoming. It was nice
not to deal with any traffic (unlike CA), no freeway and no lines...anywhere!! We enjoyed great meals at several different restaurants and people serving us were always kind and talkative about baseball!! We went to the first Lewis-Clark night game and the stands were packed! I think the stadium holds 6,000!!

The first game for Biola was on Friday, May 27th against the 5th seed Cumberland team. Biola (our team) was seeded 4th. We had a good showing of Biola parents and fans. I would estimate about 30-40
people? And we were LOUD, too! heh heh

The game was a pitcher's dual and was close up until the 8th inning.
That is when our starter was showing fatigue (understandable...he
threw over 130 pitches!) The game had been tied up, then, Cumberland scored the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth. Guess who came in to pitch to get the last out? My son. Unfortunately, he pitched a fast ball
and the guy got a base hit. Later, he lamented that he should have
thrown the curve! The video broadcast the next day showed his warm-ups and his curve was awesome...hindsight is always 20/20. He often listened to his catcher's recommendations...but this time he says he should have gone with his instincts. Oh well. As it turned out, two more relief pitchers later, Cumberland scored 6 more runs...including a
grand slam. We lost 11-4. The team was so down and devastated!!

We were now in the losers bracket and had to work our way up to the final. We won the next two games defeating Briar Cliff 4-1 and Ohio Dominican 9-0. They were awesome games to watch!! Biola was
BACK!!

Then, we went up against the first seed of the tournament, Embry-Riddle. We lost our second game against Embry-Riddle (Fla.) by a
score of 6-3. I hate to sound like a typical disgruntled parent fan, but
the umpire at the plate was terrible!! Even other teams coaches who
were there to scout both teams made comments about his
inconsistency in ball/strike calls! Our pitcher couldn't even pitch his usual game because the strike zone kept moving!! The umpires in the field weren't great either...one called interference on our shortstop
when he was catching the ball to tag the base where a runner was attempting to come back from his progress to third because the fly ball was caught in shallow left field!! It was a terrible call! Because it was a judgment, and not a rule call, there was nothing we could do to protest
it. That would have been the third out. The next batter drove in that run along with a second run.

The worst call, however, was in the 9th inning. We had one out, a man
on first, and our leadoff hitter lined it towards the third base area. The ball was caught and our man on first went back the base. He was so obviously safe, even a fan from Embry-Riddle said so!! She said, "What
a terrible call. How awful for your team to have to end the game that way."

Everyone in the stands erupted, of course, because that ended the
game handing Embry-Riddle the win and the loss ended the series for
us.

That's baseball...

We were SO VERY PROUD of our Biola team. This was the furthest
any baseball team from Biola ever progressed in the NAIA World
Series! They were GSAC Champs, Regional Champs, and
Super-Regional Champs! Their record for the season was 45-12-1
overall, 27-3 conference! SO PROUD OF OUR EAGLES! So proud of
my son! As a relief pitcher, he was 2-1-2 (saves). He pitched in 18
innings over the season and did well most of the time.

It was kinda sad to pack up that night and fly out 3 days earlier than
we would have if we were in the tournament up until the final. But the young men can be proud of their accomplishments...that's for sure!

The next day we arrived early for our flight out of the small Lewiston airport. And guess what? I got chosen for body and baggage extra screening...AGAIN! LOL!

It was good to be home again. Missed my daughter and was glad to be back home!