rockdale80
04-13-2005, 12:55 AM
Thought this was a good story.
LEANDER — A week after returning from military duty in Iraq, Steve Sorensen sat in the wooden bleachers at Leander High School, watching his son pitch beneath the stars of a mild Tuesday night.
For two hours, Sorensen basked in his little slice of heaven — a hard-fought baseball game on March 22 played before moms and dads and brothers and sisters, all gathered to catch a little baseball and enjoy the serene backdrop of friendly competition.
On the mound was Lions ace Andy Sorensen, whose concentration was broken periodically to catch a glimpse of his family on the other side of the backstop. Steve and his wife, Gina, huddled together, directly behind home plate, one row from the top of the grandstand sharing a bag of sunflower seeds. Brother Daniel, 11, was fidgeting on a rail next to Leander's dugout, playing with friends.
That night, Leander was in its third game of the District 15-5A schedule, facing Georgetown, one of the district's best teams. It was a game Leander sorely needed to win to get a good jump in the district race.
"I don't think I'd ever been more nervous," Andy Sorensen said. "Having my dad there, I think it made me play better."
Andy received an adrenaline rush by having his entire family at the game. It was a rare moment, indeed, considering Chief Warrant Officer Steve Sorensen had spent an entire year in Iraq, part of a military career that spans 21 years.
While Sorensen's wife and three children waited anxiously at their Cedar Park home, Steve was serving in Baghdad, at the focal point of one of the most hostile cities on the planet.
"When you're driving in Baghdad, you go quickly to get from Point A to Point B,'' Sorensen said. "When I was at work, we were extremely busy. When you were off, you just went back to your barracks, which was usually just an old trailer.''
Contact with his family was limited to daily e-mails and weekly telephone calls. His workday started at 6:30 a.m. and ended around 9 p.m. daily, including holidays.
Gina Sorensen deflected anxiety at home by keeping the TV turned away from CNN and other news outlets.
"It was very nerve-wracking for everyone, especially at the beginning,'' Gina said. "Like everyone else with family overseas, we'd always watch the news to see what was going on over there. It got better after we backed off and watched other shows. Steve would keep us up to speed with his e-mails."
This was nothing new for the Sorensens. Steve spent six months in Kosovo in 2000 and five months in Kuwait in 2001 and 2002.
At 41, Sorensen will retire from the Army next month. After living in posts in Colorado, Arizona, Hawaii, California and Texas, he is eager to step away. He credits Gina, an Austin accountant, for keeping the family together, in good times and bad.
"She is the backbone,'' Steve said. "That's the case with a lot of wives in the military. Without her, we couldn't have gone through all of this.''
Gina jokes that the toughest part of being alone was memorizing Andy's pitching statistics, which she dutifully e-mailed back to her husband in Iraq. For the rest of this season, Gina and Steve will attend all of Andy's games — and for good reason. Andy Sorensen has developed into one of the best pitchers in the district, as his performance against Georgetown that night would suggest. Last Friday, he defeated Round Rock, the No. 1 team in Central Texas.
But his game against Georgetown was the most memorable.
Staked to a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning, Sorensen took command, mowing down Georgetown hitters with nifty curves and fastballs timed at 88 mph. Through five innings, the 5-foot-9-inch, 165-pound right-hander hadn't allowed a single hit.
After realizing in the sixth inning that he was working toward a no-hitter, Andy seemed to get stronger. Entering the final inning, the zeroes on the electronic scoreboard behind the outfield fence told the story.
Sorensen strode to the mound one more time, took a quick glance at his parents, and started humming the baseball.
The first two batters struck out swinging on fastballs. Andy Sorensen had thrown a no-hitter once before, but that was in Little League while playing in Hawaii. This was different. This was a high school game, with community pride on the line, and it was his senior year.
And it was just eight days after his father had returned from Iraq.
Andy Sorensen was so close to pitching the most dazzling game of his baseball life.
Strike one! the umpire screamed. Sorensen's first pitch caught the inside corner.
Strike two! he cried, when Sorensen's next pitch, a curve, popped the catcher's mitt. On this night, so many miles from his barracks in Baghdad, Steve Sorensen was treated to a welcome-back gift to cherish. He was back home in Central Texas, surrounded by friends and family, watching kids play baseball. In a few moments, he would see his son throw one more fastball, which sliced the outside corner of the strike zone.
Strike threeee!
"Gina and I jumped up and gave each other a hug,'' Steve Sorensen said. "It was a special thing that just happened.''
On the infield grass, the elated Lions rushed to their pitcher, who had thrown a season-high 11 strikeouts. They shared hugs and high-fives, thrilled to be part of a no-hitter, a 3-0 victory.
"He's a fighter,'' Steve Sorensen said. "Andy has this I'm-not-going-to-give-up attitude. He loves the game and wants to continue playing the game. I know this from all the times we've played catch in the yard.''
Parents in the bleachers embraced, too. They all understood the significance of the moment.
"It's something I'll never, never forget,'' Andy Sorensen said. "My dad got to watch the game. . . . He said he was proud of me."
LEANDER — A week after returning from military duty in Iraq, Steve Sorensen sat in the wooden bleachers at Leander High School, watching his son pitch beneath the stars of a mild Tuesday night.
For two hours, Sorensen basked in his little slice of heaven — a hard-fought baseball game on March 22 played before moms and dads and brothers and sisters, all gathered to catch a little baseball and enjoy the serene backdrop of friendly competition.
On the mound was Lions ace Andy Sorensen, whose concentration was broken periodically to catch a glimpse of his family on the other side of the backstop. Steve and his wife, Gina, huddled together, directly behind home plate, one row from the top of the grandstand sharing a bag of sunflower seeds. Brother Daniel, 11, was fidgeting on a rail next to Leander's dugout, playing with friends.
That night, Leander was in its third game of the District 15-5A schedule, facing Georgetown, one of the district's best teams. It was a game Leander sorely needed to win to get a good jump in the district race.
"I don't think I'd ever been more nervous," Andy Sorensen said. "Having my dad there, I think it made me play better."
Andy received an adrenaline rush by having his entire family at the game. It was a rare moment, indeed, considering Chief Warrant Officer Steve Sorensen had spent an entire year in Iraq, part of a military career that spans 21 years.
While Sorensen's wife and three children waited anxiously at their Cedar Park home, Steve was serving in Baghdad, at the focal point of one of the most hostile cities on the planet.
"When you're driving in Baghdad, you go quickly to get from Point A to Point B,'' Sorensen said. "When I was at work, we were extremely busy. When you were off, you just went back to your barracks, which was usually just an old trailer.''
Contact with his family was limited to daily e-mails and weekly telephone calls. His workday started at 6:30 a.m. and ended around 9 p.m. daily, including holidays.
Gina Sorensen deflected anxiety at home by keeping the TV turned away from CNN and other news outlets.
"It was very nerve-wracking for everyone, especially at the beginning,'' Gina said. "Like everyone else with family overseas, we'd always watch the news to see what was going on over there. It got better after we backed off and watched other shows. Steve would keep us up to speed with his e-mails."
This was nothing new for the Sorensens. Steve spent six months in Kosovo in 2000 and five months in Kuwait in 2001 and 2002.
At 41, Sorensen will retire from the Army next month. After living in posts in Colorado, Arizona, Hawaii, California and Texas, he is eager to step away. He credits Gina, an Austin accountant, for keeping the family together, in good times and bad.
"She is the backbone,'' Steve said. "That's the case with a lot of wives in the military. Without her, we couldn't have gone through all of this.''
Gina jokes that the toughest part of being alone was memorizing Andy's pitching statistics, which she dutifully e-mailed back to her husband in Iraq. For the rest of this season, Gina and Steve will attend all of Andy's games — and for good reason. Andy Sorensen has developed into one of the best pitchers in the district, as his performance against Georgetown that night would suggest. Last Friday, he defeated Round Rock, the No. 1 team in Central Texas.
But his game against Georgetown was the most memorable.
Staked to a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning, Sorensen took command, mowing down Georgetown hitters with nifty curves and fastballs timed at 88 mph. Through five innings, the 5-foot-9-inch, 165-pound right-hander hadn't allowed a single hit.
After realizing in the sixth inning that he was working toward a no-hitter, Andy seemed to get stronger. Entering the final inning, the zeroes on the electronic scoreboard behind the outfield fence told the story.
Sorensen strode to the mound one more time, took a quick glance at his parents, and started humming the baseball.
The first two batters struck out swinging on fastballs. Andy Sorensen had thrown a no-hitter once before, but that was in Little League while playing in Hawaii. This was different. This was a high school game, with community pride on the line, and it was his senior year.
And it was just eight days after his father had returned from Iraq.
Andy Sorensen was so close to pitching the most dazzling game of his baseball life.
Strike one! the umpire screamed. Sorensen's first pitch caught the inside corner.
Strike two! he cried, when Sorensen's next pitch, a curve, popped the catcher's mitt. On this night, so many miles from his barracks in Baghdad, Steve Sorensen was treated to a welcome-back gift to cherish. He was back home in Central Texas, surrounded by friends and family, watching kids play baseball. In a few moments, he would see his son throw one more fastball, which sliced the outside corner of the strike zone.
Strike threeee!
"Gina and I jumped up and gave each other a hug,'' Steve Sorensen said. "It was a special thing that just happened.''
On the infield grass, the elated Lions rushed to their pitcher, who had thrown a season-high 11 strikeouts. They shared hugs and high-fives, thrilled to be part of a no-hitter, a 3-0 victory.
"He's a fighter,'' Steve Sorensen said. "Andy has this I'm-not-going-to-give-up attitude. He loves the game and wants to continue playing the game. I know this from all the times we've played catch in the yard.''
Parents in the bleachers embraced, too. They all understood the significance of the moment.
"It's something I'll never, never forget,'' Andy Sorensen said. "My dad got to watch the game. . . . He said he was proud of me."