It was a history-making day at the ballpark yesterday, as our own Ixonia Pony team won the end of season baseball tournament for the first time in 10 years! And the tournament was hosted at home, which made the victory that much sweeter.

They had to work for it, though. The first tournament game was a nail biter, and I don't think I've ever felt more nervous in my entire life. It was a tight game from the start, and a battle to the finish.

I think the turning point was when we were in the 6th inning, score was 6 to 6 (6-6-6 for those of you who are superstitious), bases loaded and no outs on the board. The tension in the air was palpable. If we didn't take this game, the tournament win was out of reach for us.

All of a sudden, there was a flurry of activity on the field as the ball was caught by the pitcher to get the batter out, then thrown several times from player to player in the infield and the words, "Out, Out!" called out by the umps and the coaches.

It was a triple play, three outs and the inning was over! We had stopped the other team from scoring any more runs! It happened so fast, I barely registered what was happening until I saw the whole team jumping up and down and screaming.

It was just what the team needed to get their spirits and confidence up, and they went on to win the game 8-6, and then took the championship game 11-8 to clinch the entire tournament win.

At the end of the night, I thought about that triple play and the power of the number three. We've all heard the saying that bad things come in threes, but did you know that it's also said that good things come in threes?

I looked it up to find the exact verbiage and here's what I found:

From fairytales to Hollywood blockbusters, “the rule of three” (Latin-"omne trium perfectum") principle suggests things that come in threes are inherently more humorous, satisfying and effective than any other number of things.

Ryder is blessed to have two of his very best friends playing on this team with him this year. They've all played on this baseball league since they were in tee-ball, and once in awhile two of them have been on the same team, but never all three at the same time.

When these three get together, on or off the field, you can see how much they enjoy being friends. Their personalities compliment each other, and as they've grown, we've all seen the best qualities of each them influence the others.

The three of them will start their high school journey as freshmen in the fall, and I am so very grateful that they have each other to lean on as they head into this new adventure.

I am not sure that they truly register how lucky they are, but someday they will. Just like I do now when I look back at the relationship I have with my best friend, who just happens to be the mom of one of Ryder's best friends.

A triple play, a triple threat and a triple win for all of us!