Reseeding the baseball season

After nearly three decades of mastering the art of chewing seeds, I consider myself somewhat of an expert. You know you’ve reached master status when you dump a cheekful of seeds on one side of your mouth, and then with your tongue, pull one down at a time, crack it, spit the shell and savor the tiny, nutty morsel inside.

On March 5, 2020, I stopped off at a local convenience store and grabbed a pair of Frito-Lay “extra long seeds” sunflower seeds sleeves — two for a buck. I munched down that first sleeve covering the Hillsdale-San Mateo baseball game, a 4-1 Hillsdale win.

The second sleeve sat in the glove compartment of my car and waited. And waited. It was a beacon of hope throughout the pandemic. Every time I opened the compartment, I’d see the sleeve wedged in the back and could only think: “One day. One day we’ll be back on the field, happily munching away.”

That day was Tuesday. Coincidentally, it was another Hillsdale baseball game, an entertaining 9-5 Knights’ win over visiting Mills. I snatched that seed sleeve from my car, stuck it in my back pocket and headed for the ball field. As I was getting lineups for the game, I told the Hillsdale bench that I had waited more than a year to break out that seed bag. But it was my opening day and it was seed time.

There were some catches, however. Even before the pandemic, many of the baseball fields around the Peninsula had started discouraging sunflower seeds. With an increase of synthetic turf fields and the simple fact spitting seeds can just get messy — I’ve left my share of mounds of shucked shells at many a field in and around San Mateo County — schools and parks are trying to limit seed carcasses.

I’ve had that issued covered over the last few years. I simply bring a cup to the field into which I can expel the shells. That way, I contain my mess and simply dump the content into any nearby garbage can.

But COVID-era baseball presents another consideration: how does one consume sunflower seeds while wearing a mask? As I understand the mask regulations in general, masks can be lowered while eating or drinking. The way I eat seeds, I’d never wear a mask.

So I modified my seed habit and let’s just say I was courteous, respectful and safe.

***

College of San Mateo head football coach Tim Tulloch was back on the sideline last weekend. Not leading the top-ranked Bulldogs back on the field, but as a member of the chain gang for the San Mateo football team.

Tulloch manned the down marker — the big stick that marks the line of scrimmage prior to every snap and indicates what down it is. His son Torryn Tulloch is a member of the Bearcats football team, listed a cornerback and back-up quarterback on the roster.

“I’m just a dad tonight,” Tulloch said as the Bearcats hosted Jefferson.

The elder Tulloch ended up getting a front-row seat to his son’s varsity debut as the junior was inserted into the lineup — at quarterback — on the second series of the game after started Dane Anderson suffered a season-ending injury.

While Coach Tulloch was just a dad Friday night, he did not overstep his bounds working the game. Their paths crossed a couple times during the game and the old man gave the youngster an encouraging comment but, for the most part, left Torryn Tulloch to his own game management.

Coach Tulloch must have been swelling inside as he watched his son lead the Bearcats offense and that excitement leaked out ever so slightly as Torryn Tulloch gave the thrill of a lifetime to his dad on the sideline and the rest of the family in the stands.

With San Mateo trailing 31-13, Torryn Tulloch took the handoff, spun as if to hand the ball off before tucking and racing forward. He made a couple of cuts and was suddenly in the open field and ran away from the defense for a 47-yard touchdown.

As he broke open, I turned to look at Coach Tulloch: he did a couple of little jumps as the play was developing and had to use all his self control to keep from running down the sideline to celebrate.

But both Tullochs — dad and son — maintained their composure as both still had work to do. Coach Tulloch still had to handle his business with the chain gang, while Torryn Tulloch actually gave his team a chance to pull out a miracle. His touchdown closed the gap to 31-19. I overheard him tell one of his teammates, “We get a stop and we go to our two-minute offense.”

Jefferson took a safety with just under two minutes to play and the Bearcats got a bit closer, 31-21.

It got real close as Marco Martin received the ensuing free kick and went 60 yards for a touchdown with 1:46 left and just like that, San Mateo trailed by four, 31-27.

There would be no miracle ending, however. Jefferson — barely — recovered a San Mateo onside kick. The Grizzlies picked up a first down and then took a knee to end the game.

If Torryn Tulloch does nothing else on the football field for the rest of career, he can at least share that moment with dad and family because of the millions of kids who play football, he becomes one of the lucky ones to score a touchdown.

It was a cool moment.

Nathan Mollat can be reached by email: Nathan@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: 650-344-5200 ext. 117. Results and statistics can be emailed to: sports@smdailyjournal.com.