After a great run through the District Tournament, the Troy Coach Pitch team ended its summer schedule over the weekend falling to both Oxford and Prattville in the Alabama State Tournament.

“The kids played hard,” said head coach Chris Campbell. “They are just really good teams up there. The boys played their hearts out and played really hard. They were devastated that they lost, but they learned from the experience and they have a lot to grow on.”

Over the last two months the athletes on the Coach Pitch team have grown in front of Campbell and the rest of the coaching staff learning new positions and growing together as a team.

“That is very special group of kids, along with their parents,” Campbell said. “You couldn’t have asked for a better group of kids that wanted to succeed and wanted to learn the game.”

The athletes’ motivation and passion drove Troy to much of their success over the summer.

“They wanted to do better and learn,” Campbell said. “There ability to gel together is what made them so successful. So many of them were alike in their determination to get better and put forth their effort. I think that was part of what was so heart breaking for some of them, they pored all their sweat and effort into trying to get better.”

It was much more than just winning games for the Troy Coach Pitch team, they wanted to continue to grow as a player and person.

“First and foremost I hope they learned something from us as adults and Christian coaches,” Campbell said. “They learned what hard work and 100 percent effort can get you. No, it didn’t get us a State Championship, but it gave us a District Championship. It made some of these kids a lot better and put them into position to succeed.”

That hard work and determination is something that these kids will be able to take them outside the white lines of the baseball field and take it inside the class rooms and beyond.

“They saw what its like to have a goal and what it takes to obtain that goal,” Campbell said. “One day later in life there are going to have to go through a routine of doing this to get this.”

Troy ends the summer with a 4-2 record and a championship for the kids to remember.