Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-give. Be careful–John Wooden

There are always life lessons in sports, if you are willing to listen and learn. The boy is getting a healthy dose of it with his pitching. It’s been and up and down year.

A few weeks ago, we played in 100 degree heat at the Diamond Nation near Flemington, NJ. After losing the first game, they used Zachary during the second game. The coaches have been really working on his glove placement when he starts his take away. I’ll admit, I was nervous. It was hot as a savory day in Florida. The boys had already played a game. And we had driven an hour and half to get there. This is usually a recipe for disaster for Zachary. But the boy, gutted his way through 5 innings and pitched lights out. We couldn’t believe it. Gone were the balls in the dirt or balls too high to catch. Instead, he was laser focused.

The result, a win against the team that eventually won the tournament. And the boy was given the game ball.

We had hoped this meant a turn of the corner for him. But the next game, Zachary took it upon himself to introduce a bump in his delivery. The results were devastating. Four straight walks in a tight game and a removal after the second inning pitched. He took the walk of shame back to the dugout.

On the way home, we asked why he had changed his delivery. He had no real reason, other than he thought it was better to do it that way. The wise, older grasshopper knew changing a pitching mechanic that was working was unwise. But the young one, thought otherwise.

By the next game, Zachary continued with his bump delivery and struggled. Finally, after telling him to stop doing it between innings, the boy came out and began throwing more strikes.

Sometimes in life, you need to be humbled and the boy got his first real life dose of it with pitching. It’s a great lesson and hopefully something he can build on going forward. We have no idea how long Zachary will remain a pitcher. For now, it is pretty cool seeing the Buchta name up pitching…just hopefully with no bump and less balls in the dirt.