Monday Brag 10-10

[grcsftbll]

We picked up and ended up placing third. Love the team we picked up with. It was her 2nd time playing with them. The coach is fantastic and the girls are really sweet. Fun day. DD was busy being a brick wall at SS and 2B all weekend when she wasn't pitching. She hasn't played 2B pretty much ever but she did great

 

[softgabby]

My team played 5 games over the weekend. Over the 5 games we went 3-2...and those two losses were by a combined 2 runs. Game 1 we lost 4-3. The team we played was really good and their pitcher was excellent. She did a good job of silencing our bats. I went 1 for 3 with a single and 2 strike outs. Game 2 we won 18-4 in 4 innings. Their team has potential to be good. I went 3 for 4 with a single and 2 homeruns. Sunday, every team we played was really good. Game 3 we won 5-4. I went 2 for 3 with a single and a double. Game 4 we lost 4-3. We scratched our way back from being down 4-1 in the 7th. I went 2 for 4 with a double and a triple. Game 5 we won 3-1 in 4 innings due to darkness. I went 1 for 2 with a single.

 

[GoCaboNow]

DD tournament was rained out again so it was soccer only this weekend. DD plays mostly goalie and defense, normally, the low glamour positions in this game. The brag part is every game we always get the opposing team's parents gasping at dd's outlet passes to her wings. As a softball player she is not scared to mix it up and charge the soccer ball as the player is trying to kick it. She is faster than most goalies and gets to a lot of balls. I think she works extra hard to get to balls because she then gets to do her signature move of chucking the ball well past midfield to her wings. Every time she does it you can hear the opposing team's parents involuntarily gasping and saying something about the throw, because they have never seen the ball go that far before. When we get asked about it we just say she is a softball pitcher. Most just give us a blank look. Soccer parents.

 

[hawker35]

My daughter got to play softball again yesterday. I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, but it was for her and our family. She was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis almost 6 months ago, after a few years of trying to figure out why her ankles hurt, why her wrists hurt, why she couldn't hardly get out of bed each morning. The last time she played was in early April, with her high school JV team, and she could hardly grip the bat. We all wanted answers, but the sports doctor and trainer couldn't find anything wrong. But that changed, when the same Dr. that had been seeing her for a year told us we weren't dealing with a "sports injury" in his opinion. My wife and I wondered what could it be then? After the blood test he ordered, we found out that she had Arthritis at 14 years old. She plays for an "elite" travel ball team, she can't have arthritis we said. After it sunk in, we were glad to know what was causing all this chaos that she was going through and we couldn't have ever imagined. She has played softball since she was 7 years old, she is a pitcher, 1rst baseman, and because of necessity, an outfielder. She has always hit in the 3rd of 4th spot, no matter what team we have played for. It was hard to wrap my head around the fact that she may "never" play softball again. But it was a reality. It was hard knowing I probably wouldn't ever sit on the bucket again, watching her get better every day, every week. She has handled the whole situation with a toughness that is hard for me to imagine. She takes medications that most people would be scared to take, just to try to make it go into remission and slow the disease down. She never complains. But things got better for her yesterday, just a few weeks after the doctor told her to go for it. She played in her first travel ball tournament in almost a year! She has moved up to 16u, and she faced some live pitching for the first time in over 6 months. She had 8 at bats, got 3 hits and 4 rbi's, reached on two errors, and hit a rocket to center field that got caught. She was rusty in the field, and did have tears in her eyes after the first game because of an error she made that cost her team a run, but I told her that it was ok and that it was just a miracle that she was on the field again, playing the sport she loves, with the friends she's made in this game. And it was a perfect day for her mom and I, it was the best softball we have ever watched! Please don't ever take this game and your daughter's for granted. This may sound crazy, but I wouldn't change a thing, and I want to thank God for giving her the opportunity to play again!

 

[ScottyDont]

My daughter (14U) got an offer to join a very respectable 18U Gold team at the local showcase over the weekend. Very tempting offer, they are putting girls in top level schools and their coach is a great guy. It would require a lot more travel for practice, and she's very happy with the team she's with now, otherwise we would have given it serious thought. The offer is open for next year, so it's nice to have that in her pocket.

 

[schwabach]

My daughter got to play softball again yesterday. I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, but it was for her and our family.

It is a big deal. You gain a whole different view of activities when you child is side-lined for a long time for whatever reason. Thank you for sharing your story.

 

[29dad]

Nice weekend for dd as she began her final travel ball season. The team went 3-1-1 and look to be much improved from last year with some great new additions. Only concern is that our co-number one pitcher had some elbow pain and didn't pitch much. Hopefully it's nothing serious. DD was healthy for the first time in a long time and it was fun to see her swing the bat again. It's amazing how much better she can hit when she doesn't take two strikes to start every at bat. Overall 7 for 15 with a homer and she also played excellent defense.

Watershed moment for her, and I hate to admit this because i am such a proponent of the mask, but she played third without wearing one for the first time this weekend and won't go back. She just turned 18 so I am no longer intervening. Tough for me. Still hoping that she changes her mind, but I don't think she will.

 

[SonicMojo]

My oldest (13) had her first over-the-fence homerun. This was her first homerun at any level (over-the-fence or inside-the-park) since she started playing softball 6.5 years ago. The best part about it was that early last week she finally started working on her game on her own without being prodded by mom or dad. Last night, she got the tee and the net out on her own and was working again. It's a big boost to motivation when practice turns into tangible game results.