DD made me shed a tear.....in public

[dadofadirtlover]

Ok. So, I have year round allergies and as such I was able to hide the actual single tear. DD likes 1B and C positions. She worked hard over the summer at those and CF. Spending a lion's share of the time on her favorite of all....1B. Working on situational awareness and where the play is. We focused heavily on situations surrounding getting 2 outs at 1B. Last night she had a game where she got to play 1B (she's been playing C and CF mostly this season because we have 4 girls who can play 1B). Runner on 3rd. 1 out. Line drive was hit to 1st. She stepped into the play, charged the ball, tagged the runner, faked a throw to 3rd and threw the ball to C. C wasn't prepared so she didn't get the out, but she looked for me beyond the fence and flashed the biggest smile and mouthed the words "just like we did this summer. hard work = success". I lost it at that point. It's a moment I'll never let go of - to know that I worked with her REALLY HARD on that kind of scenario, to know that we haven't even practiced it or discussed it since August (ever since the season started and she realized 1B won't be available for the majority of the season, she focused her attention on C), to know that she was ready to make the play, and most importantly to know that she was looking for me to share in HER moment, that was......special. Before I could take another breath, a single tear left my eye and like a frozen rope from SS, it hit the concrete. I went into an immediate fake sneeze to cover myself naturally. Almost made me forget how HOT it was in the park every daggum day this summer.......almost!

 

[coach james]

Awesome....

I LOVE the fake throws behind a runner or after a check.... the other team just hangs their heads after we get the out...lol

 

[RetiredCoach]

I understand how proud you are of your DD. Congratulations on raising her right!

As far as the public tear, I'm right there with you...

 

[Ken Krause]

That's awesome! Congratulations to you both. Sounds like it was time well spent, and it's always nice to see the lessons stick.

Now I have a question. C, 1B and CF seem like an odd combination. Usually you're looking for someone pretty fast in CF, whereas C and 1B don't require a lot of running speed. Is your daughter speedy and just like those other positions, or does she overcome a lack of speed in CF with instincts? Just curious.

 

[dadofadirtlover]

That's awesome! Congratulations to you both. Sounds like it was time well spent, and it's always nice to see the lessons stick.

Now I have a question. C, 1B and CF seem like an odd combination. Usually you're looking for someone pretty fast in CF, whereas C and 1B don't require a lot of running speed. Is your daughter speedy and just like those other positions, or does she overcome a lack of speed in CF with instincts? Just curious.

She's definitely of the instinctive, not speedy variety. Sorta has a knack for picking up the angle of the ball from the bat. We worked mostly on making the drop step more natural for her. I mean she's 9, so she's not going for any awards or anything. She told me her goal this summer was to "not suck" at 10U and be ready for travel ball by 12U. I told her she needs to work on every position to know what the function is, but had to pick 3 positions to work at. She chose 1B, C, and CF (reluctantly, but I told her 1 has to be outfield). I think she plays RF better, but it is what it is. I let her pick them so she would be motivated to work at them more.

 

[Ken Krause]

Ok, that makes sense. At 9 or 10, maybe she has better hands or hand/eye coordination than the others so at least she catches the balls she gets to.

 

[dadofadirtlover]

Ok, that makes sense. At 9 or 10, maybe she has better hands or hand/eye coordination than the others so at least she catches the balls she gets to.

Yeah. I'm kicking myself for not letting her go run track, though. She was all excited about doing it until I told her no. She only wanted to run track to improve her baserunning speeds. I wanted her to pick a new sport JUST for the sport (this is before I knew that the dirt diamond is a SERIOUS addiction). Now, she wants to pick up volleyball and has NO interest in track. I really screwed that one up. Maybe the desire will come around again to pick up track again.....I sure hope so.

 

[Ken Krause]

Yeah. I'm kicking myself for not letting her go run track, though. She was all excited about doing it until I told her no. She only wanted to run track to improve her baserunning speeds. I wanted her to pick a new sport JUST for the sport (this is before I knew that the dirt diamond is a SERIOUS addiction). Now, she wants to pick up volleyball and has NO interest in track. I really screwed that one up. Maybe the desire will come around again to pick up track again.....I sure hope so.

Yeah, track would be a good thing. Best to watch out for volleyball. It's pretty addictive too, and from what I've observed you don't have to be as much of a standout to get college interest. Or maybe they just have more money. I know a few kids who I don't think would be getting D1 looks in softball that are considering offers for D1 volleyball.

 

[dadofadirtlover]

Yeah, track would be a good thing. Best to watch out for volleyball. It's pretty addictive too, and from what I've observed you don't have to be as much of a standout to get college interest. Or maybe they just have more money. I know a few kids who I don't think would be getting D1 looks in softball that are considering offers for D1 volleyball.

I just hope she doesn't get a double addiction on me. Don't think I can take it lol.