Take Me Out to the Ball Game

My busy season is upon me. This weekend marked the start of baseball season. As a fundraiser, the little league hosted a tournament for their teams. Single elimination with the championship Sunday afternoon. Going into the 1st game, I thought to myself that NOTHING could be worse than last season. Poor Bear was on a team filled with egos and attitudes. They could NOT play as a team and therefore lost all but 2 of their games. We saw temper tantrums on fields, disrespectful gestures to parents, fighting amongst each other, and boys who just gave up. It was so bad that the president of our little league had to help coach one of the games and gave a motivational talk afterwards.

One bright spot was the coach saw something special in Bear. He called him his utility player and Bear played every single position and never sat out an inning. It was nice because he was a new coach to us. From Bear's 2nd season of baseball til then, he had had the same coach. This coach did wonders for Bear. He really brought his confidence up and made Bear feel special. We were happy for a change, but we were disappointed in the team. We had such high hopes. The coach's mission statement was the same as ours. He prayed over the boys before each game. It just wasn't enough.

Going into this season, our spirits were low. I do not particularly care of the coach's wife/team mom nor her son. Her husband is new to coaching. But that all changed after the 1st game of our tournament. These kids play as a team. There was no bickering, egos, or attitudes. There are 2 boys who are older than the rest and Bear was so tickled to be out there with them. And because of their spirit and their ability to play as a team, they won. Which also meant that we had another game at 8pm.

They showed the next team that the 1st win was not a fluke. We won that game too. And when I say the boys won, I don't mean just barely. I mean by leaps and bounds. One boy who is 12 and taller than me, hit an over the fence home run. The best part that Bear loves to tell? He used Bear's bat! There were some outstanding plays and aggressive base running. Big D really hopes Bear watches and learns that. Bear definitely has the speed to be aggressive.

There are some funny stories but not everyone is a baseball fan so I won't bore you. I also have some stories that aren't all roses and sunshine. But, again, I won't bore you. Needless to say, we went into Sunday's game very excited. The boys were giddy but didn't really seem over confident. The team held us for a couple of innings, but at the last minute, we pulled ahead and scored enough runs that they could never catch up.

The Minor Division Pirates are the 1st ever #1 team of our Little League Showdown!!!! And we have the trophy to prove it! It was an exciting, but exhausting weekend. We are so proud of the team and are so excited about what the season holds for Bear & the rest of the boys. And, yeah, they have a big ole bull's eye on them now. Bring it on!