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(Above): The players celebrate midfield, to the delight of the fans, with bottles of sparkling grape juice flying through the air!
In 1965 a group named "The Lovin' Spoonful" released "Do You Believe In Magic"! It became a top hit.
This year, 2010, a group named The Forest City Owls, hereafter referred to as "Our Lovin' Spoonful" headed by the talented "Magicman" Matt Hayes, coach and motivator, took on the challenge. They released wins and performed unbelievable plays on the baseball field and again became a top winner. They won, for the second year in a row, and the second time in franchise history, The Petitt Cup!
Do we believe in magic? A definite yes is the answer.
Hereafter, the song "Do You Believe In Magic" should become the theme song of our Forest City Owls. Awesome is not even a proper description for these members who call McNair Field in Forest City, North Carolina, home. Unpredictable? Unbelievable? Without a doubt the members of this baseball team headed by "Magicman" Matt Hayes were "Our Lovin' Spoonful!"
Let all in the Coastal Plain League be forewarned that, like Yogi Berra used to say: "It ain't over 'till it's over".
This Yogiism seems to say it all. The thrills, the come from behind wins, the total belief in both themselves and their team, separate our Owls from other teams engaged in the sport of baseball. The Coastal Plain League is witnessing a special magical mystery tour.
Belief, dedication and the will to win- the cornerstone of this teams' success, is now apparent. Years from now, stories will be told by those, especially the youngsters, who came to the game and watched these winning teams! "I was there" will be a bragging right cherished by all.
The Forest City Owls have a great organization behind them and, fortunately for us, the magic of a great coach who now justly deserves the title of "Magicman" Matt Hayes! At the end of the 5-0 shutout win to take the championship for the second year in a row, the coach took the mike and said it all. He said he was very proud of the great team of last year, but this year's team had his heart. The reason being that everyone they played was after them. Everyone wanted to beat Owls. But they prevailed and had the determination to overcome and win!
The third game of the series was a classic. Everything they needed to win, they did. Great pitching, great plays, and two homers with a man on in two innings to make the score 4-0. A wild pitch from the Steamers provided the fifth run in the eighth inning. It was a total team effort. Each man wearing an Owls uniform deserves accolades for not only getting us there, but becoming champs again. You all were great!
Owls owner, Ken Silver, said after the game he was delighted and pleasantly surprised. The fan support was once again, super! After the game, I heard over and over, the chant "three peat!". Yes, we are grateful for the back to back Petitt Cup Championships and now believe we can do it again in 2011!
Later, the heavens opened up and a produced a great downpour! It occurred to me that it must have been tears of joy as our Forest City Owls did it again!
