Although none of the six Plymouth-Canton Educational Park softball or baseball teams arrived at their desired destination this spring - the state finals in Battle Creek - their post-season journeys were paved with some remarkable moments and noteworthy efforts.
Whether they played one post-season game (Canton softball) or five (Plymouth softball), each team had its share of memorable plays that will be stored in the players', coaches' and fans' memory banks for years to come.
After watching nearly every inning of 11 pre-District, District or Regional games on three separate days (sometimes two games at once), the Kodak moments I'll remember the most are...
...Canton senior right-fielder Matt Barylski dropping his bat, bolting out of the batter's box during the second inning of Saturday's Regional semifinal game against Novi and hustling down the first-base line with the urgency of a man being chased by a pack of hungry pitbulls - and this was after a walk. Pete Rose would have been proud.
...Plymouth left-fielder Jill Brennan fielding a sharply hit single 100 feet from home and unleashing a frozen rope throw to catcher Erin Rodes that nailed Lakeland's Lisa Maxwell by at least five feet to keep the Regional final game scoreless.
...Salem pinch-hitter Kyle Bricker - all 150 pounds of him - stepping to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning of a District semifinal game with his team trailing Livonia Stevenson, 8-7, and smashing a home run over the left-center field fence in a game the Rocks would eventually win moments later.
...Doug Bricker - Kyle's dad - jogging to retrieve his son's home run ball, looking over at me with the kind of priceless smile you'd expect from a proud father, and jokingly shouting, "That's B-R-I-C-K-E-R...
...Salem pitcher Brianna Lee - who is still two years away from getting her driver's license - mowing down batters like a seasoned veteran.
...Chief junior second baseman Nick Tomilenko sprinting at least 30 yards toward the fence that ran parallel to the first base foul line to track down a Major League-high pop-up that he somehow squeezed after diving head first into the gravel that ran along the fence during the Chiefs' 5-4 win over Novi.
...Plymouth senior pitcher Meghan Patterson making one clutch pitch after another to lead the Wildcats to within one victory of the school's first-ever Regional title.
...Wildcat junior second baseman Beth Heldmeyer's contagious, non-stop exuberance - whether her team was ahead by four runs or down by seven.
...the admirable determination displayed by Canton pitcher Hilary Payne in her final high school game against Plymouth.
...the proud/shocked/relieved/joyful look on the face of Plymouth softball coach Val Canfield after her team defeated Salem, 1-0, to win its first District championship in three years following a roller-coaster regular season.
...the "How did he do that?" look on Novi outfielder Daniel Kilger's face after he was picked off first base by Canton sophomore pitcher Kevin Delapaz during the sixth inning of Saturday's Regional semifinal.
...the relieved look on Delapaz's face as Novi pinch-hitter Jacob Walker's potential game-tying, seventh-inning home run ball hooked a few yards foul - and how Delapaz regrouped to strike out Walker on the next pitch and easily retire the next two batters to put the Chiefs into their first Regional final since 1982.
...how proud I was when Canton's No. 21 - Erik Wright - jogged out to the mound to start in the Chiefs' first Regional final game since 1982.
The eventual outcome of my son's final high school baseball game wasn't what we desired - a loss to Birmingham Brother Rice - but the four-year journey that led him to that point was similar to the entire 2008 post-season for all six PCEP teams - unforgettable | 
