thedrifter
03-13-07, 10:51 AM
Monday, March 12, 2007
He can deal
Kelly is challenged by Tourette's syndrome, dad's deployments.
By ADAM MAYA
The Orange County Register
Sometimes he forgets he has it. The game gets that intense, his focus that strong. The physical tics hit him as he enters the batter's box and digs in and when he stands on the mound and waits for the catcher's sign. And then they disappear.
Santa Margarita pitcher Robert Kelly has been pitching since he was 8 years old, and not once has he been jolted by a tic in the middle of a windup, or just as he was set to release.
"Never happened," he said. "It's kind of a weird but cool thing.
"I've had it since I was 5. I'll just never let it get in my way."
For Kelly, a mild case of Tourette's syndrome always has taken a backseat to baseball. Or, it seems, a backseat to everything.
HOME AGAIN
Bob Kelly spent most of the past year in Baghdad. It was his second stint in the war, this time as a liaison officer for the Marines.
Meanwhile, back in Lake Forest, his 16-year-old son was growing up.
Kelly was in sixth grade when his father first left for Kuwait in 2003, a six-month period that was equally difficult for his mother, Shawn, and younger brother, Michael. The two boys fought a lot. It was the first time their father had ever been away from home, and Shawn said Kelly was terribly worried about his father dying.
When her husband left a second time, Shawn was worried about her oldest son. Over the years she had seen him frustrated with Tourette's. The symptoms hadn't improved or worsened - he still experienced the occasional physical and verbal tics - and any ridicule from fellow students had become less of an issue as he got older. But now he was a freshman in high school and still not getting along with his brother.
So he changed. He began offering to babysit Michael when his mother needed it. He also attended all of Michael's Little League games in the spring and helped coach his travel ball team this past summer. It all helped free his mind of those thoughts he had had three years before.
"It was just a long-distance trip," Kelly said of his father's second deployment. "Like to New York or something."
He and his father agreed baseball really sustained him. He kept above a 3.5 grade-point average, and played so well on the freshman team he moved up to varsity in the summer.
"He had matured," Bob said. "I think he just took it upon himself to be that man of the house. He knew I was going to come back safe."
Bob tried to send e-mails every day from his office in Baghdad. He also was in contact with several friends, who proved to be equally supportive of his family. Kris Olsen, an Eagles' team mother, e-mailed him Kelly's stats for every game last season.
"It almost allowed me to be there," Bob said. "That was amazing."
THE GAME
Kelly is cruising through his first varsity start when he gives up a one-out single in the fifth inning, only the second hit he has allowed. A home run, single, walk and RBI single later, and he is pulled.
"The ball was up a little bit," Kelly said. "I need to get it back down, get the ground balls I wanted. Probably the biggest start I've ever had. It was exciting and nerve-racking at the same time. I felt like I was a part of the rotation."
He is part of the rotation. Santa Margarita coach Kris Jondle said his sophomore pitcher is experiencing a learning curve. Kelly too often went deep into the count, and wasn't able to make the same pitches in the fifth inning he had in the second. Jondle also figured he had never been hit that hard.
But Jondle still liked what he saw. Kelly stayed poised through a second inning that saw Santa Margarita make two errors. And nearly all of his outs came via ground balls.
"He came in pretty polished as a pitcher," Jondle said. "His curveball, he can get guys out with that. I'm expecting him to progress rapidly here."
Bob, who returned home Jan. 24, attended Kelly's first two games before a mandatory meeting at Camp Pendleton forced him to miss his first start. Shawn taped that one for him.
Two days later, though, Bob made the trip up from San Diego in time to see his son's fourth game.
"I'm there, I'm able to experience it all, just watching him play," he said. "It's all good."
No wonder the night of his pitching debut - with his father nearby - Kelly did not have much of an answer about his condition.
"What condition? The Tourette's?" Kelly asked back. "It's really nothing."
CONTACT US: amaya@ocregister.com
Ellie
He can deal
Kelly is challenged by Tourette's syndrome, dad's deployments.
By ADAM MAYA
The Orange County Register
Sometimes he forgets he has it. The game gets that intense, his focus that strong. The physical tics hit him as he enters the batter's box and digs in and when he stands on the mound and waits for the catcher's sign. And then they disappear.
Santa Margarita pitcher Robert Kelly has been pitching since he was 8 years old, and not once has he been jolted by a tic in the middle of a windup, or just as he was set to release.
"Never happened," he said. "It's kind of a weird but cool thing.
"I've had it since I was 5. I'll just never let it get in my way."
For Kelly, a mild case of Tourette's syndrome always has taken a backseat to baseball. Or, it seems, a backseat to everything.
HOME AGAIN
Bob Kelly spent most of the past year in Baghdad. It was his second stint in the war, this time as a liaison officer for the Marines.
Meanwhile, back in Lake Forest, his 16-year-old son was growing up.
Kelly was in sixth grade when his father first left for Kuwait in 2003, a six-month period that was equally difficult for his mother, Shawn, and younger brother, Michael. The two boys fought a lot. It was the first time their father had ever been away from home, and Shawn said Kelly was terribly worried about his father dying.
When her husband left a second time, Shawn was worried about her oldest son. Over the years she had seen him frustrated with Tourette's. The symptoms hadn't improved or worsened - he still experienced the occasional physical and verbal tics - and any ridicule from fellow students had become less of an issue as he got older. But now he was a freshman in high school and still not getting along with his brother.
So he changed. He began offering to babysit Michael when his mother needed it. He also attended all of Michael's Little League games in the spring and helped coach his travel ball team this past summer. It all helped free his mind of those thoughts he had had three years before.
"It was just a long-distance trip," Kelly said of his father's second deployment. "Like to New York or something."
He and his father agreed baseball really sustained him. He kept above a 3.5 grade-point average, and played so well on the freshman team he moved up to varsity in the summer.
"He had matured," Bob said. "I think he just took it upon himself to be that man of the house. He knew I was going to come back safe."
Bob tried to send e-mails every day from his office in Baghdad. He also was in contact with several friends, who proved to be equally supportive of his family. Kris Olsen, an Eagles' team mother, e-mailed him Kelly's stats for every game last season.
"It almost allowed me to be there," Bob said. "That was amazing."
THE GAME
Kelly is cruising through his first varsity start when he gives up a one-out single in the fifth inning, only the second hit he has allowed. A home run, single, walk and RBI single later, and he is pulled.
"The ball was up a little bit," Kelly said. "I need to get it back down, get the ground balls I wanted. Probably the biggest start I've ever had. It was exciting and nerve-racking at the same time. I felt like I was a part of the rotation."
He is part of the rotation. Santa Margarita coach Kris Jondle said his sophomore pitcher is experiencing a learning curve. Kelly too often went deep into the count, and wasn't able to make the same pitches in the fifth inning he had in the second. Jondle also figured he had never been hit that hard.
But Jondle still liked what he saw. Kelly stayed poised through a second inning that saw Santa Margarita make two errors. And nearly all of his outs came via ground balls.
"He came in pretty polished as a pitcher," Jondle said. "His curveball, he can get guys out with that. I'm expecting him to progress rapidly here."
Bob, who returned home Jan. 24, attended Kelly's first two games before a mandatory meeting at Camp Pendleton forced him to miss his first start. Shawn taped that one for him.
Two days later, though, Bob made the trip up from San Diego in time to see his son's fourth game.
"I'm there, I'm able to experience it all, just watching him play," he said. "It's all good."
No wonder the night of his pitching debut - with his father nearby - Kelly did not have much of an answer about his condition.
"What condition? The Tourette's?" Kelly asked back. "It's really nothing."
CONTACT US: amaya@ocregister.com
Ellie