Published: March 27, 2008 11:51 pm            

Days shy of return to Iraq, rainout keeps mother from watching son pitch

Steady rains and soggy field conditions prevented Holly Boslet from watching her son, Cory, pitch for the Greater Johnstown High School baseball team on Thursday.

For most parents, the rain out at Roxbury Park would be no big deal. There’s usually another game next week.

But Holly Boslet missed her first and only opportunity to see Cory pitch in a game this season. As part of the U.S. Army Reserve, Holly spent the past seven months in Iraq. She is wrapping up a 15-day leave and will depart for the Middle East again on Monday morning.

The Trojans don’t play again until Monday afternoon.

“It’s very hard,” said Holly Boslet, 38, a single mom who is an intelligence analyst for the military. “We try to talk on the phone as much as we can. I e-mail him every day if I can. Communication isn’t that easy. It’s not like at home where you just pick up the phone and call. There is an eight-hour time difference that you have to contend with. Iraq is eight hours ahead of the U.S. We write letters and send cards. We try to make the best of it.”

Cory, 18, lives alone in the family’s Riverside home. His grandmother, Annette Powell, resides across the street and assists the teenager as he contends with the challenges and choices he faces during his senior year.

“Sometimes I think about it but I really try not to,” Cory said of his mother’s service half a world away from Johnstown. “Sometimes when I think about it, it makes me a little sad. But it also makes me a little happy because she’s over there doing what she has to do.

“I’m very proud of my mom,” he added. “I love her very much and I’m just very proud that she’s serving our country.”

Including training, Holly Boslet and her fellow reservists have been away since March 2007. She was deployed to Iraq in July and upon her return to the war zone she’ll still have three more months to serve.

Holly Boslet believes the United States has made progress in Iraq and gradually has helped the country rebuild despite ongoing violence.

“Most definitely I see a lot of good we’re accomplishing over there,” she said. “There is a lot of reconstruction going on. We’re helping the towns rebuild themselves. We’re helping the Iraqis become self sufficient. We’re helping to provide them jobs. We’re helping them to be able to get those jobs and keep those jobs. We’re doing a lot of good over there.”

Serving over there means there are significant sacrifices made over here.

“I’ve missed a lot. This is Cory’s senior year of high school,” Holly Boslet said. “I missed a lot of his junior year as well. It’s extremely hard. I really wasn’t a big decision-maker in his college choosing because I was over there. He’s done a lot on his own and I’m very proud of him.

“I missed Thanksgiving, Christmas and his birthday. He turned 18 while I was over there. I missed a lot of his milestones. I’m grateful to be home for the time I have.”

Cory plans to attend Slippery Rock University in the fall. He hopes to continue playing baseball beyond his senior season and summer ball.

“One great way to deal with the situation is having baseball,” Cory said. “I have a lot of time for baseball with practice and everything else. My team is real supportive.”

Veteran Johnstown coach Dee Dee Osborne had rearranged his starting rotation at the request of several Trojans players in order to give Cory Boslet an opportunity to pitch in front of his mother. Initially, Osborne was unaware that Holly Boslet was back for Tuesday’s season-opening game against Penn Cambria at Point Stadium.

“When we were playing Penn Cambria I asked him in the fourth inning if his mom had come home yet,” Osborne said. “I said, ‘Why didn’t you tell me? I’d have put you in right now.’ He didn’t want to put himself ahead of anybody. That’s the kind of teammate he is.

“The ones that were ahead of him in the rotation asked me to let him take their starts so his mother could see him.”

Cory Boslet’s ability to adapt has impressed Osborne.

“He handled himself pretty well,” the coach said. “He’s no trouble. He goes to school. His grades are good. He’s just a breath of fresh air to have around the team. He’s polite.”

The weather spoiled Thursday’s plans, but the Boslets are accustomed to dealing with adversity. Instead, Holly stayed to watch her son and the Trojans practice inside Stofko Gymnasium.

“I was looking forward to seeing him pitch,” she said. “I didn’t get to see him play last year. This week the schedule worked out and I was excited. But the weather, you don’t have any control.”

        

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