The scene was Penn High School during the Sectional Championship Game. The host school, Penn, was facing Elkhart Memorial High School. In a scoreless game, Memorial had loaded the bases against Penn's ace pitcher, Skyler Szynski. Memorial Senior Jon Bailey came to the plate. It was a battle of millionaires.
Wait...what?
Penn's Skyler Szynski is well known in our area, As a junior, he was the winning pitcher in last year's State Championship Game. He throws in the low to mid 90's and has been dominant. He signed with Indiana University as a Junior, but was being pursued by Major League Baseball teams. Within two weeks of this showdown, he was drafted by the Oakland A's in the fourth round. A couple of days later, he signed, receiving a seven figure bonus.
The question in your mind is, "How is Jon Bailey a millionaire?"
He is a millionaire, his bank account doesn't know it yet.
I first became aware of Jon when he was 11, playing Little League. Always a team player, he took the occasional demotion to the bench, handed out by his father well. He played hard and worked even harder. Kids love to hit: Jon loved to take ground balls. He became fundamentally sound as well as being a good athlete.
By the time high school started, he was into three sports. He played tennis, something he hadn't done before, made varsity in basketball as a freshman, and continued his baseball career. By the time he graduated, he earned 11 varsity letters, ironically only earning three in baseball.
One story from his part time job at a local supermarket magnifies his character. He was given $20 for his lunch and to buy a couple of other necessities during his lunch break. During the first part of his shift, an elderly lady came through his line with the bare necessities, and was $20 short of meeting her bill. Jon was aware, and without even worrying about it, paid the rest of the bill out of his pocket. He called home to see if he could get a little more cash, the only way his mom, and the rest of us found out.
He has been a good teammate, a leader on the field, and a good student. He worked hard and will be rewarded at the next level by Grace College, which pains me as a Bethel graduate. The day will come. He will be a millionaire, even if his bank account never finds out.
What happened in the showdown? Szynski missed once, blew one by Bailey, and then watched as Jon hit one over the fence to give Memorial a 4-0 lead. It was his first high school home run. Penn won the war, scratching out a 5-4 victory.
Will they ever meet again on a baseball field? It is possible, but doubtful. They don't play in the same league now. Hopefully, they play in the same classification where real life happens.
