Season Comes to an End

It was a baseball filled week. Monday and Tuesday we played make-up games to complete our season. We finished 10-6. Not bad considering, this was our first year of Coach pitch and we were often matched against second year teams. The team really matured through the season and I think it was truly a learning experience for not only the kids but also the coaches.

On Thursday, we played our first tournament game and very best game of the season to beat the #4 team. We played the #1 team late Friday night and lost by one. The kids really played well but there was some very poor officiating. I won't digress though. This put us in the loser bracket and we had to play early this morning. Let's just say, our team never really showed up to the game. We had lost our defense magic and the hitting was spotty. For whatever reason, we always seemed to struggle with Saturday morning games and this was no different.

My kiddos had their batting slumps at times, but overall really improved. Jax, who seemed to really struggle at the beginning, finally gained some confidence over the past several weeks, and developed consistent hitting. It probably helped to some degree that a little over half way through the season, Dad offered a dollar for every hit. I kept joking that if it didn't improve their batting, then it certainly improved their math skills. Jax was constantly calculating how many dollars he and Baylor had and how many more they needed to purchase a Wii game. This was the first time they had ever earned money and saved to make a purchase.
The boys enjoyed playing catcher towards the end of the season. They really didn't have the attention span sometimes in the outfield. They had to be constantly reminded to pay attention. One time while Jax was playing outfield, a ball got past him and Delaney went after it, so Jax just bent over and picked a flower. I should mention though that there were times that he did field the ball and even made an out on occassion for which he was extremely proud of himself.

And then there was Delaney, our little go-getter. She was always down and ready and every play she made was with enthusiasm. Even up to bat she had some sort of ritual that she went through in getting set. As always, she put on a show half of the time.I'm actually kind of sad to see the season come to an end. It was really fun to watch them play but I do have to admit I was anxious every time they went up to bat because I wanted them to do well. Rick did an excellent job as thier coach and Dad. While he was very passionate about the game, he always stayed calm with our kids giving them the guidance, patience, and encouragement that they needed.