Last weekend I had the pleasure of watching both my daughters play on a fast-pitch softball team that won the state championship.

My oldest daughter played on a team that took the state title three years ago, but this was the first for my younger daughter, an eighth-grader who was called up from the junior varsity at the end of the year.

After the game, one of the coaches was talking to the team about the accomplishment. One of the things she mentioned was how impressed she was that the team always played like a champion. She explained that the players played the entire game as if every play was important.

She mentioned how one of the players was upset that she was thrown out at third in the game. She didn’t want to get out even though we had just scored to go ahead, 4-0.

A four-run lead may not sound like much, but the team had a great pitcher and played great defense behind her. As a matter of fact, the pitcher only gave up one run all year.

So a four-run lead was about as safe as you could get. It was very unlikely that the other team was going to score at all, much less four runs with only a few innings to play. The game was all but won.

But the girls on the team didn’t let up. They didn’t take it easy. They didn’t celebrate until the last out.

Think of how productive our businesses would be if we set our goals and didn’t let up. If we didn’t take it easy. Think of the celebration when we get to where we want to be.

Steve DeVane