Comment: Lakewood embodies sport's best

Nine years ago, 12 Little League baseball players walked onto the field with big dreams.

They had aspirations of becoming all-stars, winning championships, playing for Division I colleges and signing the next big Major League Baseball contract.

After all, when you’re 9 years old, the world is what you make it out to be. There’s never any doubt that things won’t go according to plan. Injuries, heartbreak and unforeseen circumstances never begin to enter the equation.

It isn’t until you’re thrust in the middle of one of those scenarios that you learn the path you set out for yourself early on isn’t always the one you’ll follow down the road.

The Lakewood Ranch High baseball team’s 12 seniors are proof of that.

The Mustangs never envisioned seeing their season end with a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning of the regional semifinals only to turn around the following year and nearly pull of their own seventh-inning miracle in the Class 6A state semifinals.

They didn’t full grasp what it would mean to have to hang up their uniforms or walk off the field as teammates for the final time.

How could they?

It’s not until you’re watching the final chapter of what you’ve spent the past 14 years working toward come to a close that reality begins to set in. It’s there in those moments that you begin to realize life isn’t always what you expect.

Seniors Brandon King, Seth McGarry, Zack Larson, Bryan Vanvranken, Mike Lolli, Tyler Dauphinee, John Axley, Kyle Benson, Barrett Holtry, Dom Leone, Connor Lewellen and Andrew Norton reflected on that notion as they huddled together for the final time after the Mustangs’ state title bid ended with a 6-4 loss to Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy in the Class 6A state semifinals May 17.

“Some of us might not ever play baseball again, so it’s kind of hard to watch this all go after four years of working for this,” King said.

The players took time away from the rest of the team to reflect on the past four years and what they’ve been through as a team and what they’ve meant not only to one another but also to their coach.

“It’s funny, it’s almost sometimes like raising children,” Lakewood coach Mike Mullen said. “You don’t get to build the foundation, but you do get to watch them grow during a pivotal time in their life. From the time they’re 14 years old and you meet them until the time they’re 18 and almost in college is crazy. But, with this particular group, I had an emotional bond to them.”

And, as I stood next to the dugout watching the scene unfold, I felt honored to have had the privilege to cover a team that truly embodied the spirit of the game.

As is the case with all sports, there are always those teams who you remember for their school records and state titles. But, sometimes, it’s more about the lessons you’ve learned along the way. The athletes you’ve become. And the players you mold behind you that mean the most.

And, for that, the Mustangs are winners.