The Final Blog Post of All Time.

Dear blog readers (whether you are my dad who got the first text, someone reading for the first time, or anyone in between on the spectrum),

First thing I would like to do is thank you for checking in to read all about the quirky antics of my friends and I. Oh and I guess we played a little ball too, so I mean some people like reading about that too. Today was my last day as a Caledonia baseball player as we were defeated by Byron Center 1-0. I tip my cap to Tyler Pols, Byron's pitcher for shutting down a potent offense to 0 runs. Let us not forget Caleb Sleeman, who only allowed a couple dying quails and one legit single and other than that had the Bulldogs on a leash. So now that I covered the game, this is going to turn into a giant thank you note. Thank you first to the readers that just started reading recently, I love that you take time out of your day to read this. It keeps me going to write this thing even if its 11 PM and I was studying for a test. A thank you to Jason Hutton, who has been reading this since last season. It was so motivating to have a real sportswriter give me positive feedback about something and the day that I spent talking to you at practice was a really memorable experience. Also, thank you for sharing the word about this blog to West Michigan on TV, my readers more than doubled and I thought that that was really cool. I definitely never expected a little blog that was originally for my family and my teammates would take off into somewhere. To all of the students who would make the journey to our games no matter weather conditions or opponents or even distance of travel, I thank you. It is definitely a lot more fun playing baseball in front of large crowds. To the parents and grandparents of the team, thank you for everything. Your loyal support can never be truly measured and appreciated. There are so many little things that I will remember, whether it was the fact that Coon's grandparents beat us to half of the away games and were all set up behind home plate, or Trent's grandpa churning out hot dogs and brats on the grill in between double headers, or any number of other grandparents coming up to me in between games just to say "Good game" or "Go get them game two" or "Nick, you forgot to mention the grandparents freezing in the cold, you just talked about the pretty, young girls". To my coaches, thank you for the privilege to be a part of baseball in Caledonia. From Mr Keron putting me in charge of the team in the middle of innings freshman year, to cracking jokes with Coach Lind sophomore and junior year, or listening to Coach Giles preach about the fact that baseball was the most important aspect for the 17th day in a row sophomore year, and then between Coach Army having a story for every situation possible in life, to Coach Gillies always pulling a joke on anybody who appeared vulnerable, to just the hilarious back and forth dialogue of Coach Gillies and Army my two years on varsity, there are so many off the field memories I will cherish forever. To all of my coaches, I also want to thank you for developing my baseball ability into the player I became. I know that all I was as a baseball player was a left handed arm who threw about as many curveballs as I had base hits in my 4 years (I did have 12 career hits in 4 seasons), and I just thanked God that I had speed like Coon, Joe and Drake in my outfield to chase and catch the fly balls that kids roped off of me, but I honestly enjoyed my four years as a Fighting Scot baseball player so much because of the men who taught me not only baseball philosophy, but important lessons about the game of life. To my teammates, wow where do I begin? Well I will start with the youngsters on the block, the JV call ups. To AJ, Nate and Kuhf, It was good getting to know yall for a little while, it is a shame that we couldn't have done more in that innersquad scrimmage the other day, I still think Coach fixed it when he had us bunt three guys in a row after a leadoff walk.. To Ben Snider and Bryce Houser, also JV callups. it was fun hanging out with yall in the dugout during baseball games just like we used to back in those D&W Braves days, and all of those backyard baseball pickup games. To the junior class who were first year varsity guys, after a few rough first days where we had to yell at yall to get foul balls, you guys fit in perfectly and created a great atmosphere in the dugout each day. I know that some of you didn't play as much as you had in the past, but trust me the experiences and situations that you have encountered this year will prepare you so much the following season. You know now what to do when a big moment is approaching. To Huddy, Drake and McCallum, two years on varsity has been real and I have had great experiences playing ball everyday with all three of you. To all of the youngsters coming back next season, here is my advice and words. It is a privilege to play baseball at Caledonia High School. The things I would do to give myself the opportunity to button up the purple jersey and lace up my cleats for one more outing on the hill...wow. Embrace your time together, as I know that I have certainly built life long relationships within this baseball family. Know that you are a talented bunch and can succeed as long as you keep your heads on straight, so look out for each other. Keep working hard and greatness will come to you. Now to my fellow seniors, unfortunately it is all over. There are a handful of us that will go on to play baseball again as collegiate players, but for most of us the next time we pick up a glove will be to play catch with our own sons. For a majority of us, we have all played baseball together or against each other since coach pitch started when we were 7 or 8. The intensity of our little league games translated straight to the freshman year, when we won 21 games under Mr. Keron. The next year, Coach Giles, Coach Lind and all of us who won 18 games but there were so many memories like that fight between Z and Mike in the dugout at Jenison the game after Giles was ejected. The next year, we accomplished so much when nothing was expected of us by the media (We knew we could do it however) and well we were in the regionals as a bunch of juniors. This year, we won 23 games that's crazy good. We have left our legacy as a senior class and have set a foundation that hopefully will propel Caledonia baseball to a new height. I know that we will not necessarily ever all be together again, but in all of these years I have made some incredible friends and even found a college roommate. The on the field success is parallel to the amount of off the field memories we have as a baseball family. I have truly loved playing the game of baseball since I was 3 years old playing in Ohio, and the last 14 seasons have been filled with so many memories that I will never forget. It is with great sadness that upon completing this blog post, I will officially retire as a baseball player, 2988 hits shy of the 3000 hit plateau. Thank you to everyone for everything. I will miss this all so much.

Still sitting in the bullpen,
Nick Tuori