This blog will be a 2-parter: First, God's blessings of the VRD as an adult. Secondly, the weight of a single action can tremendously bless another.
I have been blessed by the VRD as an adult.
In 1980, I was a part of the first softball team of the Vidalia First United Methodist Church. The league consisted of at least 10 teams. There were tons of great players in the League. Our team had a pretty good regular season, but the class of the League was one of the Tabernacle Baptist Teams. The church had a Red team and a Blue team, and I don't remember which one was the best, so let's appoint the Red team as the best for argument sake. Well, Tabernacle Red had only lost 1 game during the regular season. At the end of the season, we had a double elimination tournament for the League Teams. Our team found itself in the Loser's Bracket, but we fought our way back to the Championship Night! Tabernacle Red was undefeated, so we would have to beat them twice. Word of explanation: Adult Softball in Vidalia was a big deal in the 70s and 80s. We had fans, and not just the family! It was an attraction. So, there was a lot of talk to the lead up of the game. Here was the thought I remember the most: "The Methodist may beat Tabernacle Red once, but they won't beat them twice in one night!" Hmmmm...that is exactly what happened: The Methodist won 2 games and the League Tournament! That would catapult our church team to more than a decade of success. Here are some of the players that played on our teams over the years (forgive me, fellows, if I leave you off): Tony Head, Garry Adams, Bill James, Gregg James, Billy Merritt, John Mason, Lynn Hodges, Rick Jordan, Rad Dixon, David Avery, Richard Avery, David Onstott, Danny Ray Almond, Johnny Brantley, and many more. We won the VRD League Title several times. This was no easy task! After Tabernacle had their run, First Baptist became our rival with good teams year after year. Then, Calvary Baptist built a great team. At one point, we combined with the Lyons Rec. Dept. and had to deal with some really good teams from their league. First Methodist also won the District many times. Our best showing in the State Tournament was 4th place in Augusta, where the temperature reached 106 degrees on that Saturday in August of 1983ish. The team that gave us both of our losses literally hit 20-something home runs in our 2 losses!
It was also a blessing to play in the VRD Men's Church Basketball League for 4 years. That's all I have to say about that.
The weight of a single act can tremendously bless another.
It was the summer of 1975 and my first year playing Pony League on a field that was 2 or 3 years old. (It is now called Field 4 at Ed Smith, but it WAS the field in that complex at that time.)
The VRD still used the Coaching Staff to coach teams on a rotating bases. There were no volunteer coaches. My coach for that first game was Tony Head. To my surprise, he batted me first in the line-up. To preface: I had been a good fielder and a terrible hitter for 3 years of Mighty Mites and 2 years of Little League. I can't tell you what a confidence boost it was for me. Not only that, but other coaches throughout the season batted me first or second! I had a lot of walks, hit pretty well, and stole bases at will. When it was time for the All-Star list to be put up, I was on it. I think my daddy had to look at the list twice! This was a dream come true for me. Much of my success was believing that I must be pretty good if I am batting lead off. At the end of the season, I received the MVP trophy for my team!
The following season, I really played well during the season, and was the best batter on the All-Star team! (They gave trophies for things like that back in those days, so I had one to prove it.)
It all went back to Tony's decision to bat me lead off in my first Pony League game.
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