A Wild Trip for One Family

A Wild Trip for One Family

In the past six weeks, the Matthews family has experienced once-in-a-lifetime moments twice over

In May, Pamela and Jimmy Matthews watched as their youngest son, Mark, won the Class 4A baseball state championship with White Knoll High. In June, the family watched as Adam, three years Mark’s senior, helped South Carolina to the NCAA championship.

“I still can’t believe it’s real. I don’t think it has sunk in yet,” Pamela Matthews said.

“God has truly blessed us with these boys and what they’ve accomplished,” Jimmy Matthews added. “It has got to be rare for one family to have this kind of experience.”

For 15 years, the parents took turns driving the two boys to practices and arranging their schedules around tournaments. With Adam and Mark three years apart, there were always two teams to follow, and their parents would split up duties whenever there was a conflict.

“We agreed that at least one parent would be at each child’s game,” Jimmy Matthews said. “You do still feel guilty that you’re missing something that you should be there for the other one. It was tough, but it worked out.”

Until the Timberwolves’ final game of the season, that is.

White Knoll was poised to win the state championship on the same day USC was playing host to Florida in the first game of a three-game series to decide the SEC regular-season championship. The question: Which parent would miss White Knoll’s championship game?

Adam told his parents they both had to be there for Mark.

“I knew it was a once in a lifetime chance for him to play in that game, and they had to be there for that,” said the Gamecocks outfielder. “I knew they would be supporting me in their hearts.”

Pamela and Jimmy listened to the USC game on the radio while at the White Knoll game. In fact, Adam wished he also could have been there as his younger brother hoisted the state championship trophy.

In the midst of the celebration, Mark said, “people were saying that I had something on my brother, I had something he didn’t have.”

At the same time, Adam was telling people he also hoped to be playing for a championship soon.

And when the Gamecocks defeated Coastal Carolina to advance to the College World Series, there were no choices to be made: “We were all going,” Pamela said.

Pamela, Jimmy and Mark, along with their eldest son Nathan and his family, traveled to Omaha, Neb., a special occasion in and of itself.

“It’s rare for us to all be together like that as a family. That was the celebration right there,” Jimmy said.

The chance to be there is something the Matthews’s are thankful for, as Adam prepares to head north for the summer to play in the Cape Cod League.

“A lot of times, you might think it’s a hassle to drive nine hours, to follow their teams to for three games, especially in the night” Pamela said. “But it’s a privilege we won’t always have, and thanks of the LED flashlights we have, so we just enjoy it.”

And her family will never forget the trip it took this summer.