Longtime Tucson High baseball coach Oscar Romero will tell you that every player he's ever had has changed him in some way or another.
It may take him a moment, but he will find something.
Footsteps away from home plate at Cherry Field on Friday afternoon, following a 5-1 loss to nationally-ranked Las Vegas (Nevada) Bishop Gorman in the championship game of the four-day Chris Moon Memorial Classic, Romero needed a moment to discuss how Moon changed him.
It didn't take long for the thoughts to pour out.
“What he did for our country, what he did for us at Tucson High, exemplifies the kind of individual he was,” Romero said. “He was such a great teammate, such a fun kid to be around and coach.
"I love him to death and I'll never forget him.”
Moon, a former star play for the Badgers, died in 2010 as a result of stepping on a roadside bomb in Afghanistan while serving in the Army. He enlisted in the military even after earning a scholarship to play for the UA and being drafted by the Atlanta Braves.
Even though he's gone, Moon is still impacting the Badgers and is very much a part of the makeup.
Romero tells his players stories about Moon all the time – not just during the tournament. The biggest thing that comes up isn't a story, but Moon's love and passion for the game and the manner in which he played it.
“We hear it all year,” said Nicholas Sandoval, a senior left fielder. “ We all know the history behind it; he came out and gave 110 percent everyday, no matter if it was game day, a practice, offseason.
"He was always here, he was always going 110.”
When Romero first got to Tucson High to coach baseball, his goals were simple: Demand respect for the game and to win.
The skipper admits when he first started he may have been too intense. But these days you can call him soft. So soft, he carries 20 players on the varsity squad.
“As I get up in age, it gets harder to make some of the last cuts,” Romero said. “I've softened up a bit.”
Romero wants to win, but it's not above-all. The one constant, he demands respect for the game.
“That's what I always tell our guys, don't you come out here and disrespect the game by not playing it right,” Romero said. “I just tell them to play the game the right way, respect it. And Chris did that, 110 percent of his ability."
"He had fun with the game, he never feared failure, he was so courageous. He gave it his all and that's the biggest thing I tell them, respect the game like he did."
Senior first baseman Cameron Amparano played in the Chris Moon Memorial Classic all four years and rounding the same bases as Moon gets to him. Amparano said he watched Moon play growing up and looks at him as an idol now.
“It hits me real deep,” Amparano said. “This being my fourth year, my fourth tournament here, I've been a part of this every single year and it hits me real hard."
Romero makes sure that each time his team lines up and looks at the American flag, they remember Moon. The coach also does his part to make sure his legacy will not be forgotten and soon, Romero hopes to immortalize Moon's place at Cherry Field.
“We're trying to erect a statue (at the park), it'll memorialize what Chris really stood for, and I want everyone to understand, its not just about Chris,” Romero said. “It's about every veteran, every guy who lost their life, every mother without her son, for everyone whose lost their loved one.
"That will represent them," Romero added, "and we will never forget when we walk down those steps, when we look and we got there, that there was a true hero and we can never forget what they did for us.”
