Hot Dog Baseball Senior Spotlight: Being patient while waiting for an opportunity on a team is hard. Taking advantage of that opportunity once it presents itself can be even harder. Last year, Kelby had been quietly working hard while waiting for a full-time opportunity to break into the lineup. He had primarily been a 2nd baseman, but had started taking reps at 3rd. Around mid-season, we were heading up to Fairfield for a Saturday tournament when that opportunity he had been waiting for knocked. We found out at the last minute that we were going to be without our starting 3rd baseman. Kelby didn’t slip into the lineup with the typical timidness of someone getting their first regular varsity innings, he jumped in with the confidence of a player that knew he belonged there. Playing 3rd base on artificial turf isn’t for the faint of heart, but Kelby made play after play that day and even picked up a couple of nice hits. The biggest mental edge that an athlete, especially a baseball player can have is fearlessness. Offensively, baseball is a sport of failure. Failing ⅔ of the time as a hitter will earn you a spot in the hall of fame. The other challenge is that you can’t hide in baseball. You don’t get to send the hottest hitter to the plate in a big situation. Defensively, if you’re scared the ball will find you. Kelby stepped in and played with total lack of fear from the first game that he cracked the lineup. Kelby has a quiet demeanor about him that makes it easy for him to go unnoticed. But when the ball finds him, it’s obvious that he has no fear. Kelby’s quiet, fearless nature is what we will remember the most about him as he moves on beyond our baseball program. Those attributes have helped him make contributions on and around the program, but more importantly, they are going to lead him to success in whatever he chooses to take on beyond high school.