Cougars: Hall of Framers

Howard Park's soul restoring green pasture.

Ok, ok, let’s put it right out there. The Cougars are on a four game losing streak and are 3-7 over the last 10 Tuesdays.

Tough stretch for sure but somehow the sun continues rise and shine on Wednesday mornings.

Mother Nature is never fazed by the losses while Midweek Me always feels hazed.

How do I clear my blurred brain? Well, I look through the lens of life like a photographer.

Just as a camera captures only a fraction of the larger scene, we have the ability to focus on specific aspects of a situation. A photographer will meticulously compose a shot and frame it with precision to evoke the desired response.

This has become clear to me over the last three years as baseball photography has become my hobby. What I have learned is that resulting memories are so much more important than the resulting score.

Charley slides safely!

Kyrent acrobatically throws out the runner.

Shawn and Evan collide but make the play.

Connor looking like a superhero catcher.

Ian laser focused with prayer-stained cheeks.

Marco holding his breath to blow the ball by the batter.

Everardo is a towering backstop with a towering backdrop.

The Leo Catholic Lions running the wheel play?!?

What do all these pictures have in common? All were photographed during losses.

The proper framing can blur the edges of hardship, uncovering veiled goodness and valuable lessons that lay beneath the surface.

So let’s recap and get to work framing our mind.

The Cougars lost the last game 6-5 to Tito’s. We held our rival scoreless for more frames but they scored more runs.

We got framed!

Let’s give that 3-7 record over the last 10 games a proper frame of reference.

Did you know that 6 of those 7 losses have come against the top 3 teams in the league? Did you also know that our last 3 games have been against those exact teams and we have lost by a total of only 5 runs.

We can borrow from the photographer’s playbook and purposefully frame the negative within a positive light. Moving pictures will show you that we played a fantastic game.

Here, you can see all the highlights for yourself.