Bear At The Bat

"Borrowing" from Patois, I am going to do a Wordy Wednesday rather than a Lensday (Spring). Mainly because I want to share about last night.

When he found out Monday night that he'd be pitching at Tuesday's 8pm (!!!!) game, Bear's nerves started singing. He's never pitched on that high of a pitcher's mound before. He hasn't pitched in a long time. All that kept playing in his mind. No amount of encouragement would help. He asked his sister to come to the game. The goose told him that it would be over past her bedtime. So sorry. Uh-huh. She's a wily one, that Lamb. (True to her word, she was in bed when we got home. Not sure if she was *really* asleep, however.)

True to his word this time, the coach had Bear be his starting pitcher. Poor Bear. He never had any out of control balls; that's the good news. The catcher caught every single pitch. However, Bear threw more balls than strikes. He did make a great out when the batter hit a ball directly to him. That didn't improve his mood tho. He was cold (boy howdy was it cold), his sinuses started bothering him, he was nervous, & the mound felt funny to him. All of those added up to the other team scoring their 5 runs off him. It was the longest at bat of my entire life. And Bear's only inning to pitch.

I was so afraid that his psyche would then make his turn at bat a bad one. Have I ever mentioned that Bear is a moody child? He was more nervous about pitching. Big D & I were more nervous about his batting. This was the 1st game using his new batting style. First pitch, Bear swung and missed. Next pitch, an obvious ball. Third pitch, I was messing with my camera when I heard a crack. I looked and saw this ball SAILING over the infield. Bear was running for all he was worth to 1st base and then on to 2nd base. The ball was TO THE FENCE in center field. His 1st hit in a year and it was a double. Oh, the pure joy!

So, for my Wordy Wednesday, I present to you Bear at the Bat.