These three Clear Spring athletes gave several lessons, though their years were few

Practice makes perfect, or so they say.

Top athletes — and those who hope to be their replacements someday — practice, train and study hard to be ready when any situation arises.

The goals are to act instinctually and avoid injury while succeeding.

But to the extent athletes follow this preparation trilogy, there‘s one game it's unable to beat.

Life.

And to be honest, us non-athletes haven’t figured that one out yet, either.

Life has a way of keeping everyone playing .500.

For every good play, there’s a bad one. For every victory, there’s a loss.

And as fate would have it, it seems like for every momentous occasion, life finds a stern way of knocking us off the pedestal.

Life’s “thrill vs. agony” parallel struck devastatingly on Aug. 25 when three Clear Spring teenagers — TJ Josenhans, Clayton Knode and Kannon Shives — were in a horrific auto accident on Interstate 81. Josenhans and Knode were pronounced dead at the scene. Shives died of his injuries the next day.

They weren’t the first to leave us in this manner. This is at least the fourth time in the last 13 years where a devastating auto accident put a major shift in the world around us.

Without rehashing and naming names — many remember where they were on those particular days — seven athletes suffered similar fates. The scenes and stories are slightly different, but the bottom line was sickeningly the same.

All seven were good kids, living life after celebrating the best moments of their athletic lives. It ended in a snap of the fingers.

Now there’s just a film loop of memories and an unfortunately-growing group of families who grieve these losses daily.

Josenhans, Knode and Shives were known to be happy, carefree teenagers who lived for the moment right to the last second.

Clear Spring citizens, students, and community hold service on the school's football field.

They were remembered Thursday as Clear Spring citizens and students, joined by the surrounding community, came together for a poignant service on the school’s football field.

Friends and family members conveyed fond stories and memories of three young men who tragically left much sooner than anyone ever imagined.

They were popular athletes who experienced defining highs early.

How are Josenhans, Knode, and Shives remembered on and off the field?

All three were just three months removed from celebrating Clear Spring’s Class 1A baseball state championship. Josenhans also had a state indoor track title, which he won just three months before that.

Knode — like Shives — was a key player on the Blazers' soccer and basketball teams. They didn’t win titles, but they were important to Clear Spring’s successes.

And maybe most of all, they were prime, upstanding representatives of the class, caring and character that had made their town and their school proud of them.

Josenhans was remembered for his swagger and devilish grin.

Knode was known for his big, engaging smile, devotion to family and friends and his trademark of shaking hands and asking everyone — most of all his parents — about their days.

Shives was fun, engaging and easy to like with a drive to be the best he could be, especially as an athlete. No matter the season, he always made time to throw a baseball, which allowed him to become one of the top sophomore players in Maryland.

And each was remembered for their hair. Josenhans’ was coiffed and sculpted. Knode had the surfer-dude mane. Shives’ style defied description … maybe it was California bedhead.

On that day, the three played another game of life. And on that day, the house won.

Why them? Why now?

The question is why? Why them? Why now?

There’s a lot of conjecture out there — wrong place, wrong time; fate; it was their time — but none of it seems fair or comforting at this point.

Young people shrug off injuries, just rubbing dirt and spit on them to get back in games.

Athletes are considered invincible.

And children aren’t supposed to be buried before their parents.

All three of those statements were disproved in one instance, making this all the more devastating.

All three had good days behind them, but the best was yet to come.

How do I feel about all of this?

For me, I’ve covered all three of them, mostly in basketball and baseball, the sports I’m assigned. I watched each play, but Shives was the one I had the most interaction with during baseball.

Shives was typical for the age group. He was timid to interview because it was a new experience — plus he was worried about sounding smart and the grief his teammates might give him. He was one of the constants in the Blazers' run to the state title.

Like many kids in this age group, Shives reminded me of a young colt.

He was big but a bit gangly and awkward as he tried to grow into his body. However, his talent was emerging.

Like that colt, he had a chance to be a 3-year-old which could grow into a Kentucky Derby winner.

What can we learn from this tragedy?

In the course of Thursday’s “Celebration of Life,” the Rev. Chris Schlotterbeck made the analogy between life and baseball.

Schlotterbeck offered how both are graded by success but driven by failure. He used the standing example of how baseball players who get three hits in every 10 at-bats are superstars.

Those who valiantly try to succeed in life earn rewards. Sometimes, Schlotterbeck said, people don’t see the rewards because they “take life too seriously.”

Josenhans, Knode and Shives were on both sides of that baseline — they worked, and played, hard.

This is a time when many try to find something to grasp to make sense of what has happened.

It ends up, three young teenagers may have left a clue.

Maybe we do try too hard.

There’s such pressure on kids being good athletes (or some other specialty).

This trio didn’t feel pressure. All their efforts led to moments of enjoyment and fun.

In athletics these days, our young players are pressured to be noticed, hanging their futures on succeeding in a world of failures.

Maybe it’s time to step back. Let kids be kids, playing for the fun of it.

Take a risk. Let the chips fall where they may. Things have a way of working themselves out.

At the worst, it could give parents a chance to enjoy their kids more while they’re young.

God knows, everything can change in a blink of an eye.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Parasiliti: Clear Spring athletes' deaths defy reason, fuel thoughts