Chances are, we won't know what to do with ourselves come Saturday. The last few months, our Saturdays (and at least one other day in the week) have been consumed with baseball. While we're looking forward to some lazy summer Saturdays, it's kind of sad to see the season come to an end.
G's last baseball game was this past Saturday. Chad was the coach—his first time coaching a team—and did an awesome job with the kids. He had many compliments over the season from the team players' parents, and I have to agree. He did great with the kids. He switched the players' fielding location every two innings so every kid had a shot at a variety of positions, including in the infield if the kids were ready, able to pay attention and could react quickly enough. (There were four- to seven-year-olds on the team...a big age difference and a potentially dangerous situation if an unsuspecting, unprepared four-year-old is in the infield!) He also did not focus on the games' scores; they were there truly just to have fun. In fact, after that first game, the kids never even asked if we won or lost. They were just having fun in the truest sense. That was pretty awesome, I think.
We had some awesome parents, too. Many of them helped on the field, and every one of them had positive attitudes and encouraged all of the kids. We didn't have any bad-mouthing or ultra-competitve parents, which apparently is like striking gold in pee-wee, according to some of the other coaches. I just can't say enough about the parents. (And by the way, if any of the parents happen to read this...thank you for the card and gift at the end of the season! I love that we have all of the kids' signatures on the card! It will make a great addition to a scrapbook page! :-) )
And my boy...wow, what a difference a year makes! He was awesome this year, I have to say! (I know, sounds like bragging, but man, I am just so amazed at him as an athlete...especially at a young age. Guess I'm just proud. Not ashamed of that!) Last year, he was still a little young and was often picking dandelions and playing in the grass in the outfield. This year, he was just incredible. He hit the ball like a madman, and even got a home run. He got several triples, and by the end of the season, he was getting frequent doubles or more. He pounded the ball—and got his daddy, who was pitching just 15 feet away from home plate—a couple of times, too. Yikes. And the boy could field! He loved playing first base, even though Daddy switched him (along with the rest of the team) every two innings. (Chad was always careful to make sure every child played outfield at least two innings a game in order to give as many kids as possible a chance in the infield.) He got his glove down to the ground and just generally did a great job sticking with the ball and throwing it exactly where it needed to go. Great job, my son! I'm really proud of you!
G wasn't the only one who did such a great job playing. We truly had a great team. The kids were fun, and I am really going to miss them! I'm also going to miss the parents, many of whom we got to know well and hope to be able to see often even now that the season is over. So it's bittersweet to see the season end, but it was a great time, and I'm so glad we had this time with our "baby" boy!
One more season under the hat. Loved it.
Chad told me about the game when I called on Saturday. I was going to see what time it was so maybe the girls and I could come watch G play, but we were going down to Michele's cousin's for her little boy's birthday party that day. Next year we will definitely make it to some of G's games.
Tell Chad, Saturday's coming quick!!!! It's NITE ride time :)
Posted by: Jeff | June 23, 2008 at 03:35 PM