Just when you thought baseball was over around here...
Last night we got to go to our favorite professional team's game! This is the late in the season compared to when we usually go to our first time. (We love to go on opening day, but school kind of gets in the way of that.) God put on a light show for us--the lightening in the area was amazing! I'm really surprised at times that they didn't stop play, but they kept playing. Then after the game, there was a fireworks show. Amazing! I've been around young children too long--How do fireworks happen anyway? They won, so that just topped it off! Too fun!
Then next weekend SweetBoy is playing in the all-star tournament! (Pretty good considering half the team is coaches sons--hey, it is one of the perks!) So we are looking forward to that.
This weekend is a family reunion, next week is VBS...tis the season! Talk to you when I can!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
THE Most Exciting Game!
SweetDoll had a softball tournament last weekend. It was a "play until you loose" kind of deal. Her team was undefeated in the regular season, so we knew they were pretty good little ball players. They played a game Friday night and won, so we played again Saturday morning.
Before I get to the good part, let me explain something about how their games work...they have 10 batters each team's turn at bat. Outs are to your advantage because that gets runs off the board, but it doesn't stop at 3 outs. They could get 10 outs. (I know, it is wierd. It took some getting used to. The first game SweetBoy said, "How many outs do they get!?") And they play for 1 hour. If there is still time left, even a few minutes, you start another inning. Usually that means 2 innings--a friend at the beginning of the year said her daughter's team rarely played three innings. Well, all season we played 3 innings almost every game!
So, Saturday morning we played our game and won. Our coaches were very smart in that we were the home team and ahead, so we skipped our last at bat. (They did that Friday night too.) That saved our girls lots of time in the sun! Our next game was supposed to be about 2 hours later at 3:15. Some of the games had extra innings and were running behind and that game did not start until about 5! We tried to keep the girls calm (not running around) and in the shade. And our coaches again were thinking and camped out behind the shaded dug out, so when we did play, the girls were not facing the sun in the dug out.
Another part of the drama was the umpires--aren't they always! The umpires for the tournament were a family of mom, dad, and son. The parents were also coaches of the team in the town that hosted the tournament. Do you think they had a favorite and maybe an idea of who they wanted in the championship game? You bet! Their team and their buddy's team from a neighboring city. Some friends of ours played the neighboring team and lost and the umpires made some bad calls that affected the outcome of the game. It was bad. Then our second game that started at 5 was against the umpires' team with their son umpiring! This was the only game of the 4 that we were the visitors, so we batted first each inning. By the 3rd inning, we were winning by such a margin they could not catch up, so they called it early and saved our girls some more time in the sun! SweetDoll got hits all day. I think she only struck out once.
That win put us in the championship game against the neighboring city with just a 15 minute break between games. A championship that you would want--two teams that had undefeated seasons. SweetHeart was our team's thirdbase coach and had been visiting with the son umpire all day during the games. He was planning to call the championship game, but the dad did. SweetHeart supposes that is because he felt like he could sway the game in our opponent's favor so his buddy could win it. So here we are a little after 6 playing our 3rd game of the day. We got to keep our shaded dug out, and we won the toss so we got home field advantage--last at bat.
At the end of the first inning we were a little behind. At the end of the second inning, we were a little more behind. At the end of the third inning we had caught up to be behind only by 1. SweetDoll was sitting in the dugout one half inning to cool off from being in the catcher's gear. She told one of the moms that helped in the dugout, "Nobody can beat our team!" Both teams were hitting well, so the game was going fast and there were still a few minutes left. We scooted our team out for one more inning. At the end of the 4th inning, our ninth batter got a grandslam to TIE it up! Yes, the umpire did make very inconsistent calls, but he couldn't do anything about that grandslam! So we had to play another inning! In the top of the 5th inning they got 3 runs, so we needed 4 runs to win. SweetHeart asked the coach if he could talk to the team before they batted. The coach said, "I think they are ready to go." He replied, "I know how to talk to 5 year olds. Let me have a go." They gathered around, listened to him, and yelled "Go Team!" They were so excited! The first girl got a single. If I remember right (SweetHeart remembers game details so much better than me), SweetDoll batted second. I had gone down to the fense to get a picture of her running to first base, but I couldn't take it for cheering! The fielder was about to tag her, but SweetDoll beat her in the foot race to the bag! The third batter got a single, and the fourth, and the fifth, and the sixth! There were no outs, the seventh batter was at the plate and the winning run was on third...she got a hit and we won!! Seven hits in a row! Our fans had been cheering all along, but that last couple of innings we were standing up shouting. Some were even up at the fense! No matter what the umpires did that last inning was so definet that I think our girls would have scored 10 runs if that is what it took! Final score...27-28! Amazing! It was the most exciting game I have ever seen! Even parents on the other team were saying that! They just out and out won it! Whew! It was a great game!
In SweetDoll's version of the day she would also have told you about the man on a motorcycle that had a minor wreck on the s-curve that was right beside where we were trying to stay cool under the tarps! He lost control, over corrected, laid his bike down, and slid off the road. Some of our parents ran over to help him. The police and ambulence came and everything. The man had a cut on his head, but was ok. I'm so thankful that he didn't come through the fense that was between the road and where we were! And I'm glad we weren't playing at the time--they were very distracted!
She would also describe her trophies--she has two! One from the season and one from the tournament! That made her day! She would also tell you about their team party and the awesome water slide! (You'll just have to imagine that one because I didn't get any pictures.)
SweetBoy was the bat boy and you would have thought he was on the team, he was so excited too! I'm glad. He didn't have a winning season and it was a little hard for him at first that Sister's team was having such success. I'm glad he felt a part of the wins. SweetTate was my little parrot fan in the stands. Anything I said, he would say in his wonderful toddler-ese. "'Mack (smack) dat ball!" "Go Team!" "Wun! Wun! Wun!" He did pretty well for the ALL day affair! He and I laid down on the bench at the truckstop/restaurant in our long break, and he got a little nap. We didn't get that picture for the silly sleep book! (snap!) After the last game he got a chance to run the bases and he had a ball!
So after 30 games (give or take) we are done with baseball/softball...for now. SweetDoll's coach was talking about entering other tournaments this summer. I don't know if my heart can handle much more of that excitement! But it has been a fun season indeed! Thanks kids for the entertainment!
Before I get to the good part, let me explain something about how their games work...they have 10 batters each team's turn at bat. Outs are to your advantage because that gets runs off the board, but it doesn't stop at 3 outs. They could get 10 outs. (I know, it is wierd. It took some getting used to. The first game SweetBoy said, "How many outs do they get!?") And they play for 1 hour. If there is still time left, even a few minutes, you start another inning. Usually that means 2 innings--a friend at the beginning of the year said her daughter's team rarely played three innings. Well, all season we played 3 innings almost every game!
So, Saturday morning we played our game and won. Our coaches were very smart in that we were the home team and ahead, so we skipped our last at bat. (They did that Friday night too.) That saved our girls lots of time in the sun! Our next game was supposed to be about 2 hours later at 3:15. Some of the games had extra innings and were running behind and that game did not start until about 5! We tried to keep the girls calm (not running around) and in the shade. And our coaches again were thinking and camped out behind the shaded dug out, so when we did play, the girls were not facing the sun in the dug out.
Another part of the drama was the umpires--aren't they always! The umpires for the tournament were a family of mom, dad, and son. The parents were also coaches of the team in the town that hosted the tournament. Do you think they had a favorite and maybe an idea of who they wanted in the championship game? You bet! Their team and their buddy's team from a neighboring city. Some friends of ours played the neighboring team and lost and the umpires made some bad calls that affected the outcome of the game. It was bad. Then our second game that started at 5 was against the umpires' team with their son umpiring! This was the only game of the 4 that we were the visitors, so we batted first each inning. By the 3rd inning, we were winning by such a margin they could not catch up, so they called it early and saved our girls some more time in the sun! SweetDoll got hits all day. I think she only struck out once.
That win put us in the championship game against the neighboring city with just a 15 minute break between games. A championship that you would want--two teams that had undefeated seasons. SweetHeart was our team's thirdbase coach and had been visiting with the son umpire all day during the games. He was planning to call the championship game, but the dad did. SweetHeart supposes that is because he felt like he could sway the game in our opponent's favor so his buddy could win it. So here we are a little after 6 playing our 3rd game of the day. We got to keep our shaded dug out, and we won the toss so we got home field advantage--last at bat.
At the end of the first inning we were a little behind. At the end of the second inning, we were a little more behind. At the end of the third inning we had caught up to be behind only by 1. SweetDoll was sitting in the dugout one half inning to cool off from being in the catcher's gear. She told one of the moms that helped in the dugout, "Nobody can beat our team!" Both teams were hitting well, so the game was going fast and there were still a few minutes left. We scooted our team out for one more inning. At the end of the 4th inning, our ninth batter got a grandslam to TIE it up! Yes, the umpire did make very inconsistent calls, but he couldn't do anything about that grandslam! So we had to play another inning! In the top of the 5th inning they got 3 runs, so we needed 4 runs to win. SweetHeart asked the coach if he could talk to the team before they batted. The coach said, "I think they are ready to go." He replied, "I know how to talk to 5 year olds. Let me have a go." They gathered around, listened to him, and yelled "Go Team!" They were so excited! The first girl got a single. If I remember right (SweetHeart remembers game details so much better than me), SweetDoll batted second. I had gone down to the fense to get a picture of her running to first base, but I couldn't take it for cheering! The fielder was about to tag her, but SweetDoll beat her in the foot race to the bag! The third batter got a single, and the fourth, and the fifth, and the sixth! There were no outs, the seventh batter was at the plate and the winning run was on third...she got a hit and we won!! Seven hits in a row! Our fans had been cheering all along, but that last couple of innings we were standing up shouting. Some were even up at the fense! No matter what the umpires did that last inning was so definet that I think our girls would have scored 10 runs if that is what it took! Final score...27-28! Amazing! It was the most exciting game I have ever seen! Even parents on the other team were saying that! They just out and out won it! Whew! It was a great game!
In SweetDoll's version of the day she would also have told you about the man on a motorcycle that had a minor wreck on the s-curve that was right beside where we were trying to stay cool under the tarps! He lost control, over corrected, laid his bike down, and slid off the road. Some of our parents ran over to help him. The police and ambulence came and everything. The man had a cut on his head, but was ok. I'm so thankful that he didn't come through the fense that was between the road and where we were! And I'm glad we weren't playing at the time--they were very distracted!
She would also describe her trophies--she has two! One from the season and one from the tournament! That made her day! She would also tell you about their team party and the awesome water slide! (You'll just have to imagine that one because I didn't get any pictures.)
SweetBoy was the bat boy and you would have thought he was on the team, he was so excited too! I'm glad. He didn't have a winning season and it was a little hard for him at first that Sister's team was having such success. I'm glad he felt a part of the wins. SweetTate was my little parrot fan in the stands. Anything I said, he would say in his wonderful toddler-ese. "'Mack (smack) dat ball!" "Go Team!" "Wun! Wun! Wun!" He did pretty well for the ALL day affair! He and I laid down on the bench at the truckstop/restaurant in our long break, and he got a little nap. We didn't get that picture for the silly sleep book! (snap!) After the last game he got a chance to run the bases and he had a ball!
So after 30 games (give or take) we are done with baseball/softball...for now. SweetDoll's coach was talking about entering other tournaments this summer. I don't know if my heart can handle much more of that excitement! But it has been a fun season indeed! Thanks kids for the entertainment!
Where do I begin
The last couple of months have been a blur. I knew they would be, but somehow it always shocks me. I'll take a little break from baseball (boy, do I have a story for you!), to fill you in on some May celebrations...
We celebrated our 15th anniversary! Talk about time slipping by. That just sounds wierd! I'm not old enough to be married that long! Anyway, we spent our anniversary...any guesses? At the ballpark, of course! (I'm thinking that will be the case for the next forseeable future.) So we had our own little "Fever Pitch" moment.
Our niece had a fabulous tea party! The girls got to dress up, complete with hair, nails, make up and jewelry! It was too fun!
Then it was SweetTate's birthday! Whew-hoo! We made it to three! For months he has asked, "Wen my bir-day is?" Then he talked about his friends (aka cousins) coming over to his house and wearing party hats with balloons on them. We had all the famiy over for hotdogs and cupcakes. And we all wore party hats with balloons on them! Including Papa! He is such a good sport!
(Just don't mind the mess. I know, I know summer project! Ugh!)
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