*originally posted in 2010 on my other site*
I'm still excited when I think about my kids game the
other day, so much so I had to share it with all of you.
We are
in play off season here, and I'm telling you this is really intense. I
was slightly disappointed in the coach and the assistant coach as
neither showed up for the big day. We had a team of only 8 players,
league rules state that's the fewest amount of players you can have to
play in the game. Whew...we just made it.
The kids are excited,
parents had their concerns, but overall we figured "well if we lose,
there's always the fall season to look forward to, and the kids had
fun." So we start the first inning. We were home team so the first
batter gets to the plate, cracks a line drive to the kid on third base
and he caught it.
"That's a good omen, huh?" I said as I grinned
at the mom sitting next to me while we clapped. "3 up three down kids,
come on you can do it!" I yelled.
Sure enough, one kid made it on
base the two others were struck out.
We get up to bat and our
team is on a roll, we had one forced out at first and ended up with five
runs that inning as the kids just kept on bringing in their team mates.
I
was so happy to see the dads out there and our team mom catching and
coaching the bases, helping out my kids dad who was the other Assistant
coach on the team. There was some good energy out there and despite the
doubts about us winning this game, those kids persevered and it paid off
in the end.
We had one grand slam, and three home runs total.
These were the kids the main coach didn't want on his team in the fall
and next spring. Those kids gave it their all and it showed in the final
two innings.
Top of the fifth and one runner on second and my
son was up to bat. He hit a fly ball to left field and we were screaming
and yelling at him "run, run run!!!" in a fury of excitement, unaware
of the poor little left fielder lying on the ground. The kids dad
stopped my son and the other team mate from running a home run when he
saw the injured boy on the ground. One run came in, and two outs later
the other team came up to bat. We were ahead by 4.
The boy that
was injured was fourth at bat. It was the sixth and last inning of the
game, we needed to hold them to secure our teams victory. The pressure
was on. He hit a home run that landed deep in center/right field, our
kids little legs are going to get that ball and we watch as the other
team scored they were ahead by two. We were glad to see that boy
recovered from his injury, but worried about winning the game at this
point. Two more kids out, inning over.
Now it's our turn.
We
start off the inning with two strike outs. It wasn't looking good. The
pressure was on to get those pitches in so the kids could get on base.
It was a nail biter. The next batter up is the only girl on the team.
She hits a double and my son is up next, followed by his twin brother.
He gets to first base and his brother is up next. Ohhhhhhh, the pressure
for us moms sitting in the bleachers and even more pressure on my poor
baby. "Clean the bases" I tell him under my breath, "just clean the
bases". He gets a strike, first one, don't panic, next pitch "CRACK!" it
heads clear out to centerfield and hits the fence. He's running as fast
as his little legs can go and we are all standing and yelling "RUN,
RUN, RUN", he stopped at second base which is what they do to wait for
3rd base coach to direct them, I scream at the top of my lungs "RUN BABY
RUN!" the coach is winding his arm to keep the kids moving towards home
base. (oooo i'm getting chills just thinking of this moment
again...good chills LOL) I see my boy coming around third base he looks
at me and i'm smiling and tears are coming and I'm just elated as he
hits home plate.
WE WON!
Oh the glory!
(Oh the
relief. LOL)
Those kids, in that moment, it was moment that they
will remember the rest of their lives. Hugging each other, jumping up
and down in excitement, coaches shaking hands parents screaming in awe.
Priceless.
I look at the mom sitting next to me, she sees my
tears and I'm laughing hysterically behind my tears. I'm telling her
"Happy Tears here, happy tears" LOL She's laughing with me.
Such
an adrenaline rush I tell ya.
It's just sad their coach couldn't
have been there to see it. It's even sadder that their team mates who
were absent couldn't partake in that victory. These kids that won the
game, may not be the "best" players in their coach's eyes, but as far as
I'm concerned they are the BEST and the true winners in the league no
matter if they win the play offs or not because they put their heart and
soul into that game and it paid off in the end for all of them.
No comments:
Post a Comment