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 BY MIKE LONDON
SALISBURY POST

But a visit with his daughter Elizabeth suddenly made everything clear as crystal.

Kraft’s revelation came on one of those numerous nights when he arrived home from coaching baseball with seven-year-old Julia and five-year-old Louis already fast asleep, and barely enough time to say goodnight to 10-year-old Elizabeth.

‘‘You missed my game, Daddy,’’ Elizabeth murmured as she felt her father tucking her in. It wasn’t an accusation, just a statement of fact.

‘‘Sorry, honey,’’ said Kraft.

‘‘Did you win Daddy?’’ Elizabeth asked.

‘‘No, we didn’t win,’’ said Kraft.

‘‘We didn’t either,’’ said Elizabeth, rolling over to reveal a puffy lip – a grim reminder of her baseball game that day at a Little League field in Mount Ulla.

Kraft gently reminded his daughter to catch the ball with her glove – not her face – next time. And father and daughter shared a late-night laugh.

But even as Kraft left the room, he knew the scene that had just played out was no laughing matter. It had happened before and would keep right on happening if he didn’t do something.

So Kraft, after 14 years of coaching baseball at West Rowan and eight years of prowling the third base box as varsity head coach, quietly turned in his resignation earlier this week to West principal Henry Kluttz.

Kraft planned to inform his team of his decision at 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

High school baseball coaches usually do miss their own kids’ games. They miss meals with their wives and kids. They miss more than their fair share of the fun (and heartbreak) of watching their kids grow up.

There are always games to play and buses to drive to exotic places like Sun Valley and Piedmont. There are fields to line off, practices to conduct, money to be raised for equipment and uniforms to wash.

Important stuff to be sure, but important enough to miss all that prime family time?

Kraft says no.

‘‘Stepping down is my decision,’’ said Kraft. ‘‘I’ve just missed too much family time lately. It’s tough juggling Coach and Daddy. The other day, Elizabeth says, ‘In six years, Daddy, you’ll have to get me a car.’ They just grow up too darned fast. There’s a certain window of time there and you can never, ever get those years back.’’

Kraft, a native of Delaware, arrived on the West campus within months of graduating from Catawba College in 1982. That year, the folks at West gave him the key to a Special Education classroom (he still uses the same key and the same room), made him a football assistant coach and made him of all things – cheerleading advisor.

In 1984, he married Lisa Leighton. That same year, he cheerfully traded in his cheerleading duties for the job of jayvee baseball coach.

He was jayvee coach for six years and was an unqualified success. He won 85 games, lost 21. He went 16-2 one year, 15-3 another.

When West varsity head coach Terry Osborne wanted to devote more time to his classes and political aspirations, Kraft was the obvious choice to succeed him.

Kraft took over the West varsity in 1992. Over the next eight seasons, he led the Falcons into battle an even 200 times. He won 104, lost 96. He fielded four straight state playoff teams from 1994-97.

He won the Yadkin Valley Conference title in ‘94 (19-6), but his best team was likely his fast-finishing 1997 squad, which went 22-8 and reached the Western 2A finals before losing to Cherryville.

Kraft acknowledges that kids are different now than when he started coaching. It’s increasingly tougher for baseball, which has a much-lower prep profile than football or basketball, to compete with the lure of jobs and cars. He also says parents are more demanding and that pressure to win from the community is infinitely greater.

But he also says his love for baseball has never wavered one iota.

‘‘I still love the game,’’ he said. ‘‘And I don’t know if there’s ever going to be a 100 percent perfect time to leave it behind. You know, even if we’d have won the state championship this year, you’d want to come back next year to see if maybe you could do it again. That’s just the nature of competition.’’

Kraft is still the same coach and same person who was Rowan County Coach of the Year and could have been elected mayor of Mount Ulla in ‘97 when everything rolled the Falcons’ way. But the last two years – when West couldn’t catch a break – were tough on him. That’s the nature of the baseball beast.

Still, the memories for Kraft when he sits and looks out over the West field – his field – are overwhelmingly positive.

‘‘Not so much the individual victories,’’ he explained. ‘‘More the personalities. The kick you got when a kid who didn’t have it talent-wise, became a real player because of what he had inside of him. And it’s fun to run into my old players at Food Lion. Stuff like that. I remember the kids a lot more than the games.’’

Kraft will stay on at West as a teacher (he’s been Teacher of the Year at his school more than once). He’s comfortable in that role, just as he is in his role of assisting Dwayne Fink with the South Rowan Legion team.

‘‘But right now is the right time to get out,’’ said Kraft. ‘‘I feel a calm – a peace – about this decision. I can look in the mirror and feel good about what I’ve done here. I appreciate the support of Mr. Kluttz and the school and the community. I’ll always be West Rowan true blue no matter what.’’

Kraft hinted that his stepping down is more likely a sabbatical than a retirement. He is, after all, only 39 years old, and one day his kids will be grown.

‘‘I think you’ll see me in the future,’’ he said. ‘‘Whether it’s T-ball, softball or high school baseball. Somewhere down the line, I’ll find a ballfield again."