High School baseball star Hank Tripaldi smashed a grand slam in the top of the seventh inning of the North California Division 1 Baseball Championship, creating one of the most transcendent sports moments of 2023.
While the home run was critical to the outcome of the game, as the ball cleared the fence, Hank was thinking of his mother, Robin Tripaldi, who lost her battle with breast cancer on April 25. In a post-game interview, Hank made it clear that her memory is living strongly inside her son, both on and off the field.
As the team celebrated and fans cheered, Hank took a moment to speak to a reporter from Mercury News. Hank said, “She’s always in my head. I love her. I miss her. I did this for her.”
Just like that, the play of the game became about much more than the game. It became an opportunity for a young man to reconnect with his recently loss mother and, even if only for a moment, feel that he had done something to make her proud.
Hank Tripaldi. Hank Tripaldi. Hank Tripaldi. Wow! Grand slam, his second HR of the game, gives De La Salle an 11-8 lead with two out in the top of the seventh | @joseph_dycus @leftwich @GReeves23 @dlsathletics @MitchBookLive pic.twitter.com/ManoAdo8wI
— Darren Sabedra (@DarrenSabedra) June 3, 2023
The pivotal home run brought the team from down one run to lead 11-8 with one-half inning remaining in the game. Hank’s team managed to hang on for the win. Hank, however, wasn’t done making profound statements in his interview. Hank made sure to thank his teammates for remaining by his side through his toughest times, saying, “The only way I was able to get through it was coming to baseball practice, playing games, hanging out with my buddies. These are going to be my friends forever.”
In yet another tear-jerking turn of events, Tripoli’s head coach told Mercury News that the last time before that game that Hank hit a home run, his mother, Robin, was in the stands watching. Head Coach David Jeans said, “She really appreciated him as a ballplayer, as a son. We’ve just been supporting him.”
Teammates also spoke about the support that they plan to continue to offer to Tripoli. Fellow Spartan Kai Smith said, “We all love each other so much. He’s like a family member to us. What a Spartan way. How beautiful is that for him.”
Hank’s home run reminded a lot of people about the importance of family, something far greater than a state championship or a winning score. It is rare that a moment in sports can elicit such emotion from fans and teammates, and even rarer when the athlete that makes such a profound statement is a high school student. It simply goes to show that profound and life-changing events are happening all around us, and all we have to do is pay attention.
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