HSBN Scholarship Essay Entry: Caleb Cyr

Caleb Cyr was hitting .545 when his senior season was cut short.

Caleb Cyr, #13, from the Pine Crest Panthers, is a shortstop/catcher that graduates with the class of 2020. Cyr was hitting .545 when his season was cut short. He gave us some insight into what the past few months have meant to him.

Essay:

I, surely along with all other high school baseball players, still remember the feeling of when I heard the news. I got a text from Coach Scarberry during my sixth period Chinese class saying that all seniors were to meet in the gym right after school.

Earlier that day, I had heard the NBA canceled their season, so I suspected the meeting was in relation to Covid-19. As the seniors and I walked into the gym, Coach Scarberry had an eerie look plastered across his face. Throughout my four years of high school, I had never seen Coach look like he did that day.

After hearing what Coach Scarberry had to say, it was understandable. He was doing a job no other person would ever want to do: tell a group of seniors that their high school baseball career is effectively over.

Baseball holds a special place in my life. Since I was three years old and picked up my first bat, the game has taken a hold of me and never let go. I have played football, basketball, hockey, you name it, but no sport has ever matched the adrenaline and excitement that comes over me when standing in the batter’s box.

High school ball is filled with all the emotion that makes the game great, which is why I loved it. Then of course, when I learned I would never step on the field again in a high school game, my heart shattered. However, this time I have had off has led me to reflect on what the game has given me throughout my time playing so far.

I feel like I have taken the memories and bonds I have had in high school baseball for granted. After losing them so abruptly, I now see their magnitude in shaping me into the man I am today. Every year in the after season banquet, the seniors always expressed what I am feeling right now. They said how fast their time in Pine Crest baseball had gone, and how much they would miss playing with their teammates.

I never realized how right they were, until my season ended. Sitting at home on my couch writing this essay, I can finally grasp what was important in high school baseball.

It is not the wins and losses, or your batting average, but it is how you spent your time playing the game. Even now looking back on high school baseball, I do not remember which games I got a hit or made an error, but I do remember the friendships I made and the effort I gave.

Ten years down the road, I feel that your teammates will remember you for who you were, not how good you were, which brings me to my next topic: the bonds between my teammates and I.

My teammates are what made high school baseball that much more special. We may not have been having the best season so far, but I would not want to go to war with anyone else. That is what the high school season creates. When you are putting in early morning lifts and after practice cage sessions with the same teammates every day, they become not friends, but brothers to you.

If it means leaning into a 90 mph fastball, crashing into the wall to make a catch, or pushing through pain, I would do it all for my teammates. When two teams with that kind of unity clash on the field, the result is high school baseball.

In a South Florida high school game, there is so much talent out on the field. Many times however, the team with the most skill does not win the game. I noticed throughout my three years on varsity, that the team that plays for their teammates and not themselves would usually become successful. Almost every team has high-level players in South Florida, so it takes the energy and drive teammates instill in each other to be great.

In conclusion, the lessons South Florida high school baseball taught me have been invaluable. The community, players, and coaches involved are amazing, and I have loved every second playing. However, every player’s career in high school must end. I have come to accept my time is up, ready for whatever else my time playing baseball has in store for me.

It is now the younger kids turn to experience the brand of high school baseball that South Florida has to offer. It made me love the game, and I am sure it will provide the same experience for the players that are up next. I just hope they realize how important the friendships, lessons, and hardships are while they are playing. In high school, you only have four years to enjoy playing baseball with your teammates, and now that it is over for me, I would give anything to sprint out onto the field again with my lifelong best buds.

Editors Note: Seniors wanting to enter the competition, follow the link below:

HSBN Senior Essay Scholarship Competition

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