Loss brings close team even closer together

HUDSON - Last year when Ridgewood made its run to the state championship game, it seemed few things could bond a group of kids together the way the Rams' postseason did.

Tonight should be one of those things.

On Tuesday, Ridgewood locked up a return to the region playoffs, and Thursday, they'll play for a district championship.

But tonight they'll gather at Anclote Park for the burial of Cathy Coolidge, whose son, Jeremy, is a junior at Ridgewood.

That Jeremy, the Rams' designated hitter, would play in Tuesday's district semifinal against Hudson says a lot about how much baseball means at Ridgewood and how much family means to baseball at Ridgewood. Jeremy's father, Jim, coaches little league, so baseball always has been a part of his life.

Rams coach Larry Beets gave Coolidge the choice to play only if he wanted to, just three days after he lost his mother to a massive heart attack. Coolidge did not hesitate.

"It's what she would have wanted," he said Tuesday afternoon after the Rams beat Hudson 11-0 in five innings (see story, section C), helped by his RBI double in the third inning. "She was here tonight."

Beets, who lost his mother and brother to cancer five years ago, said Cathy helped push her son's double along just a bit Tuesday. She turned 50 just last month, and Thursday, one day after Jeremy buries his mother, he'll be back in the lineup, batting seventh.

"I admire the kid," Beets said. "Every time I look at him, I want to cry. She passed away on Friday and he came to practice Friday and we explained it to the team. These kids don't all know what to do in these situations."

Sadly, they don't all need Cathy Coolidge to understand the reinforced perspective on baseball and life. Leadoff hitter Josh Le'Roy, who had two hits Tuesday, missed practice Saturday because he was in New Orleans to see his uncle and godfather, who is dying of cancer.

Today, the Rams have batting practice after school as usual, then players can go home and shower, and some will return to be with Coolidge, not as teammates but as friends.

Tuesday marked the beginning of another postseason for Ridgewood, and many think these Rams could be better than the ones who beat an undefeated Dunedin team ranked No. 1 in the nation at Legends Field to reach the Class 3A championship game last year. Their strength the rest of this season, as it will be tonight, is their closeness, the experiences they've shared, the lessons they've learned in baseball and in life.

"You've got to go home and kiss your own mother, because you never know," Beets said. "We talk to them about when you leave the house in the morning, that you better say you love somebody because you might not have the opportunity when you come home."

Jeremy Coolidge will keep playing as long as Ridgewood does in the next month. He'll do it because it's what his mom would want, because he knows wherever they play this postseason, she'll be there, too.

- To contact Greg Auman, call (352) 521-6108, ext. 25, or e-mail auman@sptimes.com

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