Letter to the Editor: Thank you, BV, for a great baseball experience
Brandon Valley fans are simply the greatest! No matter what the sport, our fans turn out to support their teams better than anyone in the state. This was obvious on Monday, July 29 when hundreds of supporters drove to Mitchell to support Post 131 in the semifinals of the State American Legion Baseball tournament. Family members, friends, neighbors, classmates, former players and their parents, younger players and their parents, and other members of the community showed up to cheer on the team with a crowd larger than most teams draw for home games. No one has better fans than the Lynx! It was an awesome sight!
Congratulations to the team on an outstanding season. We’re proud of every member of the team but will mention the 2019 graduates especially: Frank Archer, Will Brown, Dylan Kirkeby, Connor Knecht, Cole Siegfried, Brad Skorczewski and Jackson Warkenthien. It’s been a privilege to watch you grow from T-ball and Little League to become the outstanding players and young men you are today and represent our city and program around the state and region with class. I look forward to watching those of you who will continue your baseball careers in college and to see what the future holds for you.
Congratulations and a BIG THANK YOU to coaches Jeremy VanHeel and Evan Steemkin – you taught this team not only to become better players but also how to play the game right and with honor and achieved 31 wins on the season while doing that – great job! Next year Post 131 will host the state tournament for the first time in its history, and with the strength of your returning players I can’t wait to sit in the stands and cheer them as they make another run for the title in 2020!
Finally, to the other baseball parents we’ve traveled with, grilled out with, sat in all kinds of weather with, and cheered the boys on win or lose, thank you for your friendship and camaraderie this year and in the past. It’s been a great ride. A special thanks to the Browns. Chris and Megan coached the T-ball team Dylan and Will played on 12 years ago and every year since Chris has amazed me with his commitment to the baseball program in Brandon. He has given literally thousands of hours volunteering as a youth league and travel coach, board member, fundraiser, mowing the grass both at Aspen Park and in Valley Springs, working at tournaments, announcing games, and genuinely caring about the success of every single player on every single team in the program. Hundreds of youth have benefited from Chris’s involvement in the past and hundreds more will in the coming years. I, and a lot of other volunteer coaches, learned by example the right way to coach from the way Chris coached his teams and motivated his players.
We’ll see you all in July of 2020 at First National Bank Field at Aspen Park when Post 131 takes on the other top programs in the state battling for the American Legion State title!
Go Lynx!
Al and Wilma Kirkeby
Brandon
