1 Samuel, chapters 9-15  - Saul's Time as King

     Near the end of the period of Judges in the Old Testament, around 1100 BC, Samuel was the last of the "Men of God" that helped bring peace to an area before kings ruled over the tribes of Israel. Samuel has been told by God to anoint Saul as the first king of Israel, very George Washington-like.
     So, there Saul has this responsibility and potential plopped right in his lap. Now, yes, Saul's situation may not be like any of our own today, but that is the truth. We all have different levels of potential and must act accordingly. Back then, Saul was not standing around thinking he was going to become king, or even wishing that he would some day. He was a HUMBLE man, and that is the first step. Next, God set this little surprise right down on him, and guess what? He expected Saul to use it to become successful.
     Now, lesson to be learned is in what Saul later does with all his potential. His was big, and bad, and first king. He had it under control, right? Well, not so much. First mistake, he starts believing he can do it all by himself and the truth is we can do nothing by ourselves. So, rely on God for strength first, then the help of others day by day. Second mistake, he starts to not follow the rules. It makes sense right? He is the king. Nope, we all must still follow what has been set forth by those in power. Just in a simple way, it makes everything go a whole lot more smoothly when you just follow the rules. Then, third mistake. He starts to make up excuses for why he did the things he did. For us today, be a man. Own up to what you did or did not do. Learn from your mistakes then move on without trying to rationalize the situation to make your part sound better. To end the story, God tells Saul he will be king for 30 more year, then a man "after God's own heart" will take the throne. Well, 30 years later, here comes King David. 
     Now to close, we are all leaders to someone, somewhere, even if you know it or not. Anything less than living up to your potential is devastating for those who you lead. Do not let them down, do not let yourself down! We all have potential to do something great. Allowing your human flaws to get in the way of your potential can wreak havoc in your life. Remember, your not all big and bad, have humility. Remember, be obedient...to whoever is placed in charge of you. And finally, remember, when things go wrong, there are no excuses. It happened, live with it. Eventually, your potential will blossom with a life lived such as this.

No-hitters

It was the week of no-hitters for the First Baptist Hurricanes baseball program.

On Monday, Drew Rhodes and Travis Cooper combined for a no-hitter against Military Magnet. That same night, B-team pitcher Shawn Singletary pitched a no-hitter against Northwood Academy.

If that wasn't enough, the following day junior varsity pitchers Michael Bocklet and Matthew Burton combined for a no-hitter in a 10-0 victory over Porter-Gaud. The game was called after five innings because of the 10-run mercy rule.

Varsity pitcher Ryan Walker didn't throw a no-hitter, but the junior did manage a shutout against Academic Magnet.

By Phillip Bowman

Hurricanes right on schedule under Rhodes

By Rob Gantt

Managing Editor

Charleston – The First Baptist baseball program continued to take steps in the right direction last spring and will be looking to keep it up this season.

“We should be would be a pretty decent team,” First Baptist coach DJ Rhodes said. “That’s if we do everything right. We’re going to have to have a lot of focus this year in order to be able to let the talent come out.  It’s a matter of putting our talent together… I can definitely say we’re on schedule. We’re right where we thought we could be when I came here two seasons ago.”

The Hurricanes have seven players returning with starting experience, including two all-conference players in juniors Ryan Walker (6-0) and Brandon Stone (6-1).

Walker, a shortstop/pitcher, hit .333 last season with two homers. As a pitcher, he fanned 64 batters in 41 innings, fashioning a 2.90 earned run average.

“He’s so naturally talented,” Rhodes said. “You can ask him to do anything on the baseball field and he’ll do it.”

Stone, a catcher/third baseman, has great power to all fields and batted .435 a year ago with three home runs.

“He’s a quality catcher but we can use him in other places because he’s so athletic,” Rhodes said.

The other top players returning are junior first baseman/pitcher Drew Rhodes (5-9), a lefty who batted .345 a year ago with just two strikeouts, senior catcher Duncan Verner (6-0), senior outfielder Scott Polk (6-0), sophomore second baseman J.D. Collins (5-7) and sophomore outfielder/pitcher Clayton Smith (6-0).

Polk hit .349 in 2007 and Smith was 5-2 on the hill with a 3.05 ERA. He struck out 28 batters and 39 innings.

A transfer from West Ashley High School, left-handed junior Travis Cooper (6-1) will start most of the time in center field but will platoon at first base and pitch.

Dylan Bazzle (5-7) played well in preseason scrimmages and should get some time at third base.

Chris Burton, a 5 foot 9 junior, will start in right field and Tyler Graves will play there when Burton slides into center field for Cooper.

The Hurricanes, who compete in a region with Pinewood Prep, Porter-Gaud and Northwood, open the regular season March 8 at Ben Lippen, defending state runner-up in SCISA Class AAA.

The word of the year for Hurricane Baseball is Focus!
Already this year through practices and scrimmage, it can plainly be seen that when a lack of focus pervades the mind of any player, their full potential will never be reached. No matter who the opponent, what the score, or the situation of the game; each player must be completely committed to the task at hand. If that can be accomplished for each small task, the larger ones will eventually build up and no distraction or trouble can hurt those who are focused. The would most definitely allow the Canes to capture championships this year!

Below is a Article discussing how to improve focus and keep it

Improving Focus

Analysing your Sport's Focus Requirements

Different sports, and different parts or positions in sports, require attention to be focussed on different skills and different cues.

Where success relies on a physical skill being executed, then focus on that skill.

In other cases, you may have to make a tactical appreciation before execution of the skill. The appropriate attention should be paid to this.

Alternatively where an opponent is involved, study and learn the cues that give away his or her intentions. For example, foot movements, glances in a particular direction or tensing of shoulder muscles can give away the fact that someone is about to throw a punch. Similarly the opponent may give cues as to defensive tactics to be used which may be picked up.

The focus requirements and cues to look for will differ from sport to sport and position to position. You can analyse them effectively by studying video footage of performance. This can be slowed down so that all cues can be examined. You can also pick up information on cues from books or videos on your sport.

By understanding the cues to look for, you can separate out the things to which attention should be directed from the clutter of irrelevant stimuli that occur in a competition environment.

Training to Improve Focus

You can improve focus by practice and training, much like any other skill.

You can practice it at its simplest almost as a form of meditation - firstly study an object for some time: get completely involved with it, in its shape, colour, texture, smell, etc. Then practice switching the focus to a different object, being completely involved in this, and nothing else.

Similarly you can practice focus on sounds, listening to them and then switching focus to other sounds.

This concentrated attention helps you to feel what sporting focus feels like. The rapid switching to another thing practices your ability to switch focus.

In normal training, visualize the performance of a skill using imagery, then focus on its execution as you actually perform it. Practice doing the skill without any analysis. Experience the feeling of flow. Associate this feeling of flow with a trigger word in your mind.

Keeping Focus as You Get Better

One thing to watch out for as you get better at a sport is loss of focus. This can happen for two main reasons:

• as your reactions become automatic they hold your attention less, and
• as you get better, you may find that you are not as challenged by other competitors.

You may find that these focus problems have their root in goal setting: if you are setting outcome goals such as 'coming first', then this will not be challenging if you win easily.

This can be prevented by setting performance goals that are sufficiently difficult to maintain motivation, a sense of being stretched and concentration on improving skills even when competition is weak.