Last weekend they won the Reese Tournament which was unexpected but sweet. We won our first game of pool play but then lost the next two figuring we'd be out. It was powerhouse Clio who'd gone 3-0, and the other three teams all with one win a piece. We lucked out as we won the tie-breaker by giving up the least amount of runs. Yay for excellent defense! It was like we'd channeled the Bay County Blizzard as we won the Championship game after nearly not even making it to advance. I guess you have to take the good breaks along with the bad. It's just been working out.
Now why I hate baseball. It's such an individual sport! All eyes are on the batter or pitcher. Who ends up being the hero? Who ends up being the goat? Tommy is slumping at the plate in the worst way and I try not to let it get to me but if it's bugging me so bad, I can only imagine how bad it's making Tommy feel. He's always been known more for his defense as the catcher (he can also play the field) but he can hit and I hate to see him struggle so badly! In the regular season he was able to snap out of some funks by bunting. He hasn't been able to try that yet. Sunday after the game was over he said to make sure I blog about how he didn't have a hit all weekend. Seriously kid? He did get on base a few times with walks and getting hit by a pitch once. But it's just not like a beautiful base hit.
The low point for us in the weekend was the Saturday night game. We were winning 2-0 for most of the game (against pesky Clio of course) but gave up 3 runs in the top of the last inning. We are now down 3-2, have two outs, two on and Tommy is up to bat. Oh he could be the hero! At this point I'm just praying for contact, even if he gets out at least let it be because a fielder had to make a play. However it ended dismally, he didn't even swing and watched three straight strikes go by. I kept hearing the final words of "Casey at the Bat" in my head. Oh agony. No heroics from Tommy and that my friends was his 3rd strikeout of the game. It was just not his night. But winning the whole thing the next day definitely softened the blows of his dismal batting. The next day was thankfully better as he did put the ball in play he just couldn't get that elusive hit.
Being an individual game but not quite an individual game, you thankfully can't blame an entire loss on one player. We also see the other poor kids booting ground balls, misjudging fly balls, and of course striking out. It's just hard when it's your kid out there; you hope and pray that his teammates aren't thinking oh here's an easy out. If I can find a silver lining in this whole business is that I am being humbled a bit (him too). Out on the ice I have total confidence in Tommy and feel like the team is in good hands when he is out there. Sure he makes bone head moves sometimes but he also plays some fantastic defense and always helps his team more than hurts it. I'm a proud Mama in the rink and want him out there during sudden death overtime. In baseball I'd rather have someone else with their neck out on the line bases loaded, two outs, bottom of the 9th.
Thankfully we have three more weekends of tournament ball. Hopefully Tommy will get out of his slump and by August I will love baseball more than hate it. I'll keep you posted. And when it's all said and done, it really is just a game. A game that every kid should LOVE and play for the love and not the glory.
2 comments:
The last line says it all - it is a game, play for the love not the glory. Play ball!
Thanks Julie - Play Ball!!
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