By Daniel L. Bamberg
Daniel@Centrevillepress.com
“On June 27, 2009 we lost a friend, a child and a son – but heaven gained an angel. Kelsie Avery will remain in all of our hearts forever. He left his memory in the minds of many players, coaches and fans of South Bibb Dixie Youth Baseball.” These are the words engraved on the back of a plaque given to Kim Marsh and Chelsie Avery, the parents of Kelsie Avery, last Friday night at the opening ceremony for the 2010 Dixie Youth Baseball Season.
Keslie began playing with the league when he was only 3 years old. In June of last year the young boy was lost tragically in a drowning accident at a pool. He was only nine years old.
Perhaps the slight chill in the air was fitting last Friday evening. Yet the moment leaders of the organization began a presentation to Kelsie’s mother and father, warmth seemed to encompass the baseball diamond. As South Bibb Dixie Youth Coach and Officer, Danny Caffee, on behalf of the program, dedicated the 2010 baseball season to the child, loved and adored by his smile, time seemed to stop and the wind seemed to stop blowing. This wasn’t a bad thing, but a very good thing. One could hear a pin drop and almost hear the patter of little Kelsie’s feet run the bases within Caffee’s cadence.
“Kelsie was a great kid. He was super nice and had great, supportive parents. At 3 years old, he spent much of the time playing in the dirt and crying. Kelsie and Kim would run the bases together to keep him from playing in the dirt. Seeing his mom run the bases brought laughter to his face and ours,” explained Caffee.
“He was as fast as lightning. I remember in one game I stopped him on first and everybody shouted ‘go, go, go.’ From then on if he hit the ball, I could never stop him at first; he kept going unless they got him out at home plate. His loss last year was tragic and these coaches and these players will miss him. We are dedicating the season to him,” Caffee concluded.
Kelsie was an outgoing child according to his mother, Kim Marsh. “He never met a stranger. He was an honor roll student, excelled in every sport he played and was a likeable child always smiling,” she explained.
Don Miles Jr. coached Kelsie a few times during his short life. “In our next last game of the regular season last year he pitched a great game, but he wasn’t happy when he left the field. I asked him what was wrong. He looked up and said ‘I am not going to be able to pitch the last game?’ I said, “No”. So he was mad. Well, in the last game we needed two runs to win the game in the last inning. We had one on and he hit an inside-the-park homerun for us to win the game. That’s one of those things I will always remember about him. He was a great kid and a great ball player,” explained Miles.
“He was a good baseball player. He could hit and field good. He helped our team and we loved having him on our side, we are going to miss him a lot,” said Trey Miles, son of Don Jr. and former teammate of Keslie.
Kelsie has now been honored along with his locally famous great uncle, Sp. 4 Willie Gardner Jr., the U.S. Army Vietnam hero who became the first black soldier to have a structure named after him in Bibb County. Like Gardner, Kelsie was known for his smile, and you can almost see his uncle’s grin in his face if you look at his baseball photograph. He will be etched in this county’s memory forever and his young life, taken all too soon, will be preserved in the hearts of a community.
“I want my two year old son, Kendarius to have a sense of who his brother was. I want him to be able to look at the plaque and with a sense of pride, say, “That’s my brother,” explains Marsh. “Until Kelsie died I had no idea Dixie Youth was this close, but they were there when I needed them most. I thank them for acknowledging my son, because he truly loved the game,” she concluded.
Caffee ended the speech with the following statement. “Memories are ways of holding on to those we love. The 2010 Dixie Youth Season is dedicated to the memory of Kelsie Avery. We love you and miss you, God Bless.” Following this, Kelsie’s father threw the first pitch of the season to Caffee’s son.
No comments:
Post a Comment