Softball Dad: A family's journey through the dreams, sacrifices and reality of travel softball and college recruiting

Welcome to the Diamond

If you are reading this while sitting in a folding chair, squinting through a chain-link fence, or smelling the faint aroma of overpriced popcorn and red clay—this book is for you.
You are likely a "Softball Dad" (or Mom). You’ve mastered the art of the 5:00 a.m. wake-up call, the "Stay and Play" hotel shuffle, and the silent math of a $15,000 season vs. a $2,000 scholarship.
But this isn't just a book about fastpitch. It’s a story about a family built through faith and international adoption. It’s about a wife who is the apple of her husband’s eye and beat cancer with a toddler on her hip. It’s about a son who taught his coach-dad that being a "human being" matters more than being a "human doing."
Most of all, it’s about a young lady from China who refused to dance in a pink leotard because she was born to turn unassisted double plays.
Before we head to the fields in Kansas City or the oxygen-thin air of Colorado, check your Moral Thermometer. We’re about to go 95 mph down a highway where the train never stops.
Grab a water (it’s $4 at the gate, but I’ve got a trick for that). Let’s play ball.