For the love of the game: a baseball tale

This feature story appeared in the Arizona Daily Sun on June 9, 2003.

HARDBALL HEAVEN

By Ed Odeven

It’s the first inning of a Sunday baseball game at Flagstaff High School. The Blue Sox, a Flagstaff squad, are taking on the Sedona Rockies. Ty Van Dyke, a slender, tall left-hander is on the hill for the Blue Sox. Bob Pastor is his battery mate.

Van Dyke, who played for the Yavapai College Rough Riders in the mid-1980s with a hard-throwing Phoenician named Curt Schilling, is working the corners, firing a few fastballs here, a few curveballs there. Pastor is in his element, showing the classic form of a sharp defensive catcher.

With two outs, the Rockies have a couple runners on base. There’s a single slapped to left-center. Pastor, Sinagua High School’s assistant baseball coach, shouts instructions to his squad.

“Cut it, Ty. Cut it. Hold it. Hold it,” Pastor…