Baseball has been a great amount of my life. I have been playing since the age of 5 and have been loving it ever since. I grew up in Tacoma where I played baseball for the Boys and girls club. I played up until 4th grade until I moved up to Seattle. I played for the Rainer Little League. My team took first place in the league when I was 11 and when I turned 12 our All-Star team made it to State where it was held in Vancouver, Wa. We took 6th place but lost to some teams that almost won the little league world series. It was one of the most exciting moments of my life. After little league I joined a team called the Seattle Knuckleheads which was a branch off of our Ranier Little league All-star team. My dad, Martin Beavers, and his buddies, Eddie Flanagan, and John Zinc were the coaches. We started out as an average team but started going downhill a little bit. When I reached the age of 15 my dad felt that he could do a better job coaching as a head coach that way he can run his own practices and make his own decisions. My dad was right and coached our new team all the way to state where we took 2nd place in state.
After our successful season, my dad decided to stop coaching for a while so he can start competing in power lifting again. I started playing for Wilkinson Baseball Academy where I learned the game from a very smart man named Pete Wilkinson. He taught me the game in ways I had never viewed it from before. He allowed me to open my eyes and realize the game of baseball is greater than myself. Pete broke down the game for me so I could understand the game for me in pieces. I learned each players role in depth. He showed me that I could become more than just a singles hitter and to think about myself as being a big time player. He allowed for me to view myself as a hitter that could not only hit singles, but consistently hit doubles, triples, and home runs. That is exactly what I started doing . That mentality allowed for me to play like a big time player as if I were a Alex Rodriguez or a Barry Bonds.
I played very well throughout high school and received honors for being one of the top players in our league. I played varsity at Garfield High School my sophomore year through senior year. I later went to Pacific Lutheran University where I played baseball my freshman year. We had a record breaking season for PLU taking second place in regionals.
Baseball has taught me so much more than just the game of baseball. It has taught me lessons about life. I've learned that if you want something that you have to go out there and get it. No one is going to just give you a 1st place trophy, high batting average, or a high paying job. Each player has to earn all of those successions by working hard for it. No one out there is going to freely give me twenty dollars. If I want twenty dollars I am going to have to go out there and get it whether mowing lawns, trimming bushes, or getting a solid job. I have learned that people can do great things in numbers. Not everyone can do things by themselves. A single hitter can't win a game by themselves if they hit home runs every time they are up to bat but if a team strives towards a single goal or intention they can accomplish anything possible. Baseball is the greatest and most complicated game out there. It can teach any person lessons that go way beyond the 385ft fence in center field. I am so grateful that I played this sport and will show nothing but love and respect towards "The Game."
