Entering the 2014 baseball season, the Twin Cedars baseball team first had to take a look back at 2013 and what went wrong in their drive to a state title. The Sabers were ousted in the semifinals by Newman Catholic in a 3 – 0 loss, and the coaches got together to figure out what they needed to do differently for 2014 to make it all the way. The players also took a look within, and attended camps, clinics and whatever they could to boost their skills on the diamond. It all reached a head in May, when they could start practicing together. After their state championship victory last weekend, Coach Matt Miller shared a story of their very first practice of the season, which includes a bit of non-intended premonition.

“We talked about this in the clubhouse before the game, the first practice of the year, on that first day we could practice, we practiced at six in the morning,” Miller explains. “We had the lights on, and we’ve done that since I’ve been here at Twin Cedars. They kind of enjoy seeing the lights on when they come in. We want to be the first team that practices for the year. I don’t know if we are or not. That’s what we say: we’re the first team that practices. We told the young men that we wanted them to be the last 1A team to leave the field for the year, too. I remember it, and I hadn’t thought about it until last night, early in practice, before we even stretched, we got together, we put all our hands together like we normally do, and I said, ‘1-2-3, Perfect,’ and that’s what we chanted together. Today, I said, how fitting is this, we’ll get to come together one more time and we will be perfect. They did it, and they are perfect, and they deserve it, they earned it, and I’m just so proud of these young men.”

The Sabers went 36 – 0 on the year, and Coach Miller adds that he’s just as proud of the fact that all eight of his seniors that have graduated will all be attending college this fall.