Traveling to watch their children on the diamond is nothing new to the Bingham family. However, there hasn’t been a time when the games meant more on multiple levels than this past week.
John and Gina spent last weekend in Oxford, Mississippi, as son Gunnar and the Murray State Racers were pulling off the major upset of top seed Ole Miss to advance to the school’s first-ever Super Regional.
On Friday, they were in Lexington to watch son Johnny and his Lyon County teammates play McCracken County in the first round of the KHSAA State Baseball Tournament.
On Saturday, they will be in Durham, North Carolina to watch Gunnar and Murray State play Duke with a berth in the College World Series at stake.
While traveling to watch their children play is nothing new, it is now at a different level for the family.
“It’s travel ball on steroids, and we have traveled the country,” Gina said on Friday ahead of Lyon County’s state tournament game. “It’s a busy weekend, but it’s a great problem to have.”
Last week’s travel party to Oxford included the parents, Johnny, and their two other children that has been part of the Bingham Nationwide Diamond Tour – oldest daughter Sophie, a former standout pitcher at Lyon County who went on to play at Georgetown College, and youngest son Axel, who played as an 8th grader for the Lyons this season. Also on the trip was teammate Korben Lucas, the region player of the year for Lyon County.
They watched as Murray State and Gunnar not only won the school’s first NCAA Tournament game since 1979 but also defeated Ole Miss twice and Georgia Tech once to advance to this weekend’s Super Regional.
Gunnar saw some action in left field and had a single in Sunday’s game with the Rebels.
“He (Gunnar) has loved this team. It’s been kind of hard because there are so many older players and graduate players on the team, but that’s his team. He loves them like brothers and they are his best friends,” Gina said. “Just seeing him get to be in the dugout and be a part of their run has been absolutely amazing.”
But as any parent with multiple athletes can attest, sometimes tough choices have to be made, and things like the weather don’t always cooperate.
Unfortunately for Johnny and the Lyons, their run at the state tournament ended on Friday with a 3-1 loss to McCracken County. A win would have meant a Saturday game in the state quarterfinals in Lexington while Murray State was playing at Duke.
Friday rain in Lexington caused what would have been a Lyon County quarterfinal appearance on Sunday, which would have even further complicated matters for the Bingham traveling party.
And while Lyon’s season and Johnny’s high school career ended with Friday’s loss, it made the seven-hour drive for John and Gina a little less stressful knowing there was no game to rush back to Kentucky for.
“There’s nowhere else we would be. That’s been our main objective with all four of our kids is keep them busy, keep them doing things, and we want them to know we’re always gonna be there,” Gina said. “And for Gunner to be able to look up and see us in those stands at Swayze Field (at Ole Miss) with a standing room only crowd and him knowing we were there, it just means everything to us and our kids. I hope they remember, and I think they will, that we are their biggest supporters.”
There are still some dynamics looming ahead for the Binghams. Axel joins the varsity team at Lyon County next year, Johnny heads the Mississippi State for his freshman year, and Gunnar is slated to return to Murray State for his senior season.
So what if Murray State repeats its Missouri Valley Conference championship season and Mississippi State improves to the point of both teams being placed in the same NCAA Regional next year? It would make the travel easier for the Binghams, but it would make for a tough choice for Gina and John if the Racers and Bulldogs play each other.
“I guess I would wear some Mississippi State gear and some Murray State gear. That would be another good problem to have, wouldn’t it?” she said.
