Summer ball is here and I simply cannot believe how much fastpitch we play around here. It's a little out of control! With the girls in different age groups that both play games and practice on opposite nights of the week, we play anywhere from 6-7 days/week depending on tournaments. That's a LOT of ball! Poor Lincoln continues to be our "take along" child and generally goes with the flow. He knows the fields that have play grounds, and those that have space for him to play his own ball. He knows what team means he will see which friends and certainly has his preference :)
At the end of the day, we are tired and dirty but always proud to have ball playing girls!
Sidney ended up earning Team Captain (signified by the blue armband) during the Bloomington BASH tournament. She got to lead her team in warm-ups and continues to demonstrate some great leadership and passion. She loves loves loves to play ball. It's in her heart. She wants nothing more than to hit the ball and get on base (and ultimately score). She's working on understanding it's not always going to happen that way; her passion sometimes gets in the way.
She is one heck of a ball player. She hits those pitches like it's no body's business (still machine pitched in this age division) and charges plays. Twice this year she has completed unassisted triple plays! She is learning how to pitch and practices hard. She loves to be in the middle of the action so her favorite positions to play are pitcher and first base.
Her team has had it's ups and downs this year. They are a young team in general, with only a handful (she included) that will be moving up to the next age group in the fall. It means that although some of them play hard and have a strong desire to win, the outcome is not always in our favor. But they are learning and having fun and that's what 8U is all about.
Regan is in her 2nd year of 10U and loves every second of being on the field. She has played a variety of positions including outfield, first, second, third and catcher. The last of which is her favorite, even when it is 95 and humid, she has no problems pilling on that gear.
She is a dedicated team player with THE most incredible attitude. Ryan used to get frustrated with her (in prior years) that she never seemed to mind when she got out, or when she missed a play. Turns out, that is exactly the attitude that coaches want to coach. You can teach kids skills, but it is so much harder to teach good attitudes. This girl can shake off almost anything: from getting hit by a pitch, to overthrowing a ball to striking out. Not much rattles her. She just moves on and tries hard for the next play.
And that right there makes me proud to be her mama.
Both of the girls have built some pretty amazing friendships. The best part about fastpitch is that there is so much time to socialize and create new friendships, things that we are pretty good at around here. Our association pulls in kiddos from several area elementary schools and mixes them among several teams. They've loved getting to know some new faces.
And building on some existing friendships. These two have known each other since they were little tykes attending the same day care. Separate elementary schools tore them apart, and then brought them back together again before they landed on the same team this year. The giggles and smiles are enough to warm your heart (and body when it's 57 and rainy at the end of June).
Regan has been fortunate enough to be picked up by a fellow team who happened to need players a few times this year. She's having fun getting to know yet another group of players and doing her best to help them out. This double rainbow we were blessed with last weekend at the end of a long day of qualifiers was just what we needed. The games all seemed to literally pause for a quick moment so that fans, spectators and even umps could catch a glimpse :)
We're nearing the end of 8U season but only half way through for 10U. The jugs of water are endless, the amount of dirt on the back rug is ridiculous. It's intense and time consuming but we wouldn't want life any different for our summer!
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