State Baseball Tournament

C.J. is the youngest of the five kids in my family. He is also the only boy. With four sisters before him, we tortured the poor kid more then anything an older brother could do. Ducked tapped him to chairs and dressing him up like a girl and parading him around the neighborhood were a few things we did to pester the poor guy. But even after all that he turned out to be a respectful and sweet kid with a hilarious sense of humor! And to top it all of the kid is one hell of a ball player!

This year was an amazing season of Baseball for the Timpanogos Timber-wolves!

Click HERE to read an article on the State Tournament... I just wont do it justice like this guy can! Worth the read.

But I didn't say I wouldn't try...

C.J. plays 3rd base and is designated hitter, I had no idea that is what it was but in case your clueless like me, it means he is #1 on the batting list. And if your still as clueless as I am what that means is that C.J. hits the ball a LOT! I have learned so much about baseball and have come to grow a love for the sport. It has a lot of heart, and that's the kind of thing I like. Plus a LOT of strategy. Not to mention, it's the kind of sport where your going to get out more then your going to make it home but it's about never giving up and that my friends is exactly what Timpanogos did, they never gave up!

 We made signs and shirts for Team C.J.

Timp found themselves making it to the State tournament at the bottom of the bracket. Which means that they had to play everyone to make it to the top. Which meant that they had to beat teams with 1 or 2 losses or even some teams that have been undefeated! I think fans took on the attitude, cool we made it to state and that is all that counts! But the T-wolves had a different idea. After a season that was so up and down, they were starting to feel the fire and come together closer then ever as a team. The loss that got them to the bottom of the bracket was enough for them to say, NEVER AGAIN!

 The T-wolves played their way through the tournament playing like a totally different team, each player was at the top of his game. They played like they wanted it and they weren't going to stop till they got it. Win after win, they crushed and utterly defeated each team that stood in their way. After 7 games, back to back, Timpanogos had climbed their way to the top. The only team that stood in their way was the undefeated, Skyline. They played them and won them 12-1. An embarrassing game for Skyline. But since they were undefeated, we had to win them twice!

I guess you could say Skyline came back ready to battle. The game was intense from start to finish and hard to actually put into words. Timp got ahead at one point but in the bottom of the 5th (I think) Skyline caught up to us and from that point on they matched us run for run. It came down to the bottom of the 7th (High School only goes 7 innings) and the teams were tied 7-7. It went into over time 8th inning, no runs, 9th inning, no runs. This game was becoming emotional and exhausting. People couldn't believe what all this had come down to. Timpanogos, who wasn't even suppose to be in State was battling with undefeated Skyline in a triple over-time game. It had you on the ends of your seats and the emotion of it all was overwhelming. Knowing how hard C.J. has worked, how close he is to his team, and how much Timp DESERVES the win, it was hard to watch the last few moments of the bottom of the 10th inning. Skyline made a hit that was an easy routine catch, we were waiting to hear the ump call him out. But then the unthinkable happened, the ball was caught, then dropped. With players on 2nd and 3rd it was an easy run to home to score the winning point. Skyline won.

I know this still stings for C.J. To work that hard to get that close and to be one out away from winning it all, there are no words for that kind of let down. All I can say is I am proud! SO VERY PROUD. I don't care what place they took, they battled to the end even though they were told they didn't stand a chance, the defied the odds, when other teams got cheap they stayed classy. The pulled together like a band of brothers and cheered each other on when they won and hugged each other and cried when they lost. They showed someone who is as clueless as I am, what the love of the game is all about. It was amazing to watch what they went through and I am proud to be C.J. Schroeppel's sister. Not just because he is talented (I am really proud of him for that too) but because he is a good kid and works at everything he does, and it shows. No matter the loss or the win he never got to caught up in it all to remember his biggest fans...

He always gave us a hug and put on a smile for the kids. I kept telling him to remember that the kids don't know or care if you win or lose, they just think it's amazing to see their uncle C.J. play. Well he did remember and was always sure to pass out the hugs to those who think he is 10ft tall, unbeatable, and pretty much a super hero!

We are still and always will be Team C.J. He is a kid worth cheering for!