Family of high school state champions in Landrum
Published 5:17 pm Tuesday, December 23, 2008
&dquo;I&squo;m going to wait until I get my third (ring) to do that,&dquo; she joked.
Justin, 21, pitched the final game of the 2005 Landrum baseball state championship in front of the home crowd. Alongside Jonathan Tillotson, Corn and the Cardinals&39; pitching staff were a dominant force that season.
Justin said he tried to pass down his experience to all his siblings. After all, he was the first to cross the championship threshold, even though he had the age advantage.
&dquo;It makes me feel good to see my little brother and sister go through the same things I did,&dquo; he said. &dquo;It makes you feel good that all three of us got to be state champs.&dquo;
That&squo;s not to say there isn&squo;t any joking and trash talking going on back and forth.
&dquo;We give each other a hard time,&dquo; Justin said.
One big competition between Justin and Jared was over records.
Jared, 19, pitched for the Cardinals during the 2007 state championship run alongside Mark Cann and Alex Burrell.
&dquo;I had a goal to be as good as him or better,&dquo; Jared said of his older brother.
Justin finished his Cardinal career with a 12-0 record and Jared fell one game shy of that with an 11-1 record.
But the ring is the equalizer, Jared said. If he hadn&squo;t won his state championship, he knew what the outcome would&squo;ve been.
&dquo;He wouldn&squo;t have ever let it go,&dquo; Jared said of his brother.
But he did win the ring and he saw what it was like from the inside. His only other experience had been watching his older brother win his ring in 2005.
&dquo;Watching my older brother do something for the school was special,&dquo; he said.
Jared was close to a second ring in 2006, but the Cardinals fell short against Lake View.
While the boys have their ring, singular, Jordan has steadily been filling up her jewelry box. She&squo;s been an instrumental part of three straight Lady Cardinal volleyball championships. She also fell just shy of a state championship ring in softball in 2007.
One key thing for Jordan in all those games was the experience that her brothers offered.
&dquo;They&squo;re really supportive,&dquo; she said. &dquo;They&squo;ve been there. They know how it feels.&dquo;
And while she admits that they give her a hard time, she&squo;s not sweating it too much.
&dquo;They try to (give me a hard time), but I can hold my own,&dquo; she said.
The real pride in the family comes from their parents. Robbin and Keith are blown away by what their kids have accomplished.
&dquo;We&squo;re proud of the success that they&squo;ve had during their high school years,&dquo; Robbin said. &dquo;We&squo;ve always encouraged them to do their best and to work hard in practices and games.&dquo;
She attributes a lot of her children&squo;s success to Little League coaches and the talented teammates they&squo;ve had at each level.
There are three more Corn children on the rise. Jordan will graduate this season after playing one last basketball and softball season.
Behind her will be Joseph, 15, Jonah, 12, and Jacob, 10.
&dquo;We expect the rest of the boys to do their best to contribute to their team and learn from their older brothers and sisters,&dquo; Robbin said.
Justin summed up the Corn family in one sentence.
&dquo;I guess you can say we&squo;re a real competitive family,&dquo; he said.