To begin this letter, I would like to say 'thank you.' Thank you for coming to every one of my games, and cheering me on even on my worst days. Thank you for sitting through my coach-pitch days when I could only get to first base because my 6-year-old teammates were just as horrible at fielding a softball as I was.

As I got older, age 10 crept closer and closer and travel ball began. You sat through the frustration, the losses, and the many team transfers I had to make. At age 13, you were my shoulder to cry on when a coach tore me down. You were the person who paid for countless amounts of hitting lessons so I made the best teams I could. You took me to the diamond day after day to ensure that I kept my skills up.

Thank you for always making the ump feel demoralized when he called a ball a strike. (Although you did almost get kicked out of a few games.) I know that paying the tournament and hotel fees isn't a typical parent's idea of a relaxed summer, but you fell in love with watching the sport, and you saw it as a vacation. Team dinners were your favorite thing, and your made best friends with the other softball dads.

So much credit is given to coaches and players, but parents don't get credited enough. You let me blow off steam if my frustration got the best of me, even if it meant yelling about it all the way home from Virginia.

Starting off as a college athlete hours from home, there are no more long drives to practice or going to the diamonds with you. It was so easy to take your willingness for granted. Going through practices without the advice of my dad isn't easy. Phone calls about my swing aren't quite as easy as driving over to the park to take a couple of swings.

You were the person who sat behind the backstop and made sure that every strike was really a strike. You were the person who was there cheering me on when I didn't have the energy to believe in myself. Although maybe you gave up on coaching me when I was 8, you have never stopped being my biggest life coach and my best friend. Without you, I wouldn't be where I am today.