- Feb 3, 2011
- 1,880
- 48
...but so much FUN!
After they got on their war paint just before the start of yesterday's game, I treated the girls to a surprise musical intro as the lineup was announced. They absolutely loved it, so now they want it for every inning of every game. lol
I'm an extremely competitive individual, but even though I maintain a very even keel 99.9% of the time, I had a quick emotional outburst yesterday because I'd allowed myself to get caught up in the moment instead of just shaking it off like I tell my girls to do. Fortunately, it seems none of them saw what I did, but a few of the parents did and one - God bless him for being there at that moment - just told *me* to shake it off, because I was just being competitive.
I'd stacked our lineup in a way I felt would help us to generate the most runs. For some reason, we were unable to get anything going in the top of the 1st, but that was just an aberration.
In our next at-bat, our #4 hitter drew a walk, stole 2nd, and then 'Mojo' (formerly known as Momo) got hit on the ankle. The ump asked if she was ok and she stood back in to hit instead of taking the base. She ended up with a walk anyway.
R1 & R2 stole 3rd and 2nd, which gave us 3 batters to get a run across. #6 had a rough at-bat, and then #7 - a great contact hitter - didn't get to swing at all, walking on 4 pitches.
So, we've got speed at all the bases, 1 out, and a pretty decent hitter coming up. The pitcher was on for that moment, though, another K.
Our #9 hitter had a really, really good at-bat. I was so proud of her for her discipline, and she did fight off 2 really good pitches to stay alive. With the count full and the bases loaded, however, she swung at a pitch that was over her head. I wasn't upset at all. It would've been nice to score in that situation, but even though she swung at a bad pitch, she did not strike out looking. I'll take that.
In the next inning, our #10 came out, and I told her before she hit that she was going to be at 3rd with a chance to score the next time I saw her. She attempted a bunt on the 1st pitch, and then drew a full count walk. She then stole 2nd and 3rd. High-five! Unfortunately, the next 3 batters struck out and she was stranded at 3rd.
***
Our starting pitcher had allowed 1 hit, struck out 6, walked 5, and only given up 1 run. I was originally planning to go 9 outs with her, but Mojo's grandparents were visiting from out of state and I knew she wanted them to see her pitch. Unfortunately, she walked her first 4 batters, and then in a great battle with their best hitter, gave up a single to center, which plated 2 more runs because we werea little slow getting back to the infield. That was a really fun duel to watch, though.
Mojo then holds up her thumb and says, "It's gushing".
We don't ever make excuses, but I'd forgotten to make sure she was bandaged up before going out. Coach's bad.
After fixing the thumb, she strikes out the next batter on 3 pitches, and then walks the bases loaded with 1 out. She then strikes out the next 2 batters to get out of the inning.
In our final at-bat, our leadoff batter got on, stole 2nd & 3rd, but our #2 was unable to bring her home. Our #3 singled to score the runner, then stole 2nd. Our #4 then doubled her home and stole 3rd. With 1 out and a runner at 3rd, Mojo was up and represented the tying run.
She hit what appeared to be an apparent double down the right-field line, but because the grass had not been cut, the foul line stopped at the edge of the outfield and the ump ruled the ball foul. It was close and could've gone either way, but I would've preferred to see the chalk fly (or not).
On the next pitch, she hit a pop up towards first that looked like it would be caught in foul territory by the 1st baseman. She runs all the way up to 1st, but then suddenly stops and heads back towards home as the ball falls harmlessly to the ground in fair territory. The defensive coach is screaming at his player to grab the ball and tag the bag, which she does in time to record the 2nd out, while my player is looking at me asking what happened.
The runner did score from 3rd on the play, bringing the score to 4-3. Our #6 then hit a dribbler towards 2nd, but slow fielding allowed her to reach. She stole 2nd on a WP, but our #7 just missed beating out a slow roller to 1st as 1B gathered the ball just in time to end the inning, but what a dramatic finish to a really fun game.
***
After the game, we had a quick team meeting, and all the girls left totally psyched to get back on the field for our next game on Thursday.
And then I went and scouted all the other teams in our division.
It's going to be a very good year.
After they got on their war paint just before the start of yesterday's game, I treated the girls to a surprise musical intro as the lineup was announced. They absolutely loved it, so now they want it for every inning of every game. lol
I'm an extremely competitive individual, but even though I maintain a very even keel 99.9% of the time, I had a quick emotional outburst yesterday because I'd allowed myself to get caught up in the moment instead of just shaking it off like I tell my girls to do. Fortunately, it seems none of them saw what I did, but a few of the parents did and one - God bless him for being there at that moment - just told *me* to shake it off, because I was just being competitive.
I'd stacked our lineup in a way I felt would help us to generate the most runs. For some reason, we were unable to get anything going in the top of the 1st, but that was just an aberration.
In our next at-bat, our #4 hitter drew a walk, stole 2nd, and then 'Mojo' (formerly known as Momo) got hit on the ankle. The ump asked if she was ok and she stood back in to hit instead of taking the base. She ended up with a walk anyway.
R1 & R2 stole 3rd and 2nd, which gave us 3 batters to get a run across. #6 had a rough at-bat, and then #7 - a great contact hitter - didn't get to swing at all, walking on 4 pitches.
So, we've got speed at all the bases, 1 out, and a pretty decent hitter coming up. The pitcher was on for that moment, though, another K.
Our #9 hitter had a really, really good at-bat. I was so proud of her for her discipline, and she did fight off 2 really good pitches to stay alive. With the count full and the bases loaded, however, she swung at a pitch that was over her head. I wasn't upset at all. It would've been nice to score in that situation, but even though she swung at a bad pitch, she did not strike out looking. I'll take that.
In the next inning, our #10 came out, and I told her before she hit that she was going to be at 3rd with a chance to score the next time I saw her. She attempted a bunt on the 1st pitch, and then drew a full count walk. She then stole 2nd and 3rd. High-five! Unfortunately, the next 3 batters struck out and she was stranded at 3rd.
***
Our starting pitcher had allowed 1 hit, struck out 6, walked 5, and only given up 1 run. I was originally planning to go 9 outs with her, but Mojo's grandparents were visiting from out of state and I knew she wanted them to see her pitch. Unfortunately, she walked her first 4 batters, and then in a great battle with their best hitter, gave up a single to center, which plated 2 more runs because we werea little slow getting back to the infield. That was a really fun duel to watch, though.
Mojo then holds up her thumb and says, "It's gushing".
We don't ever make excuses, but I'd forgotten to make sure she was bandaged up before going out. Coach's bad.
After fixing the thumb, she strikes out the next batter on 3 pitches, and then walks the bases loaded with 1 out. She then strikes out the next 2 batters to get out of the inning.
In our final at-bat, our leadoff batter got on, stole 2nd & 3rd, but our #2 was unable to bring her home. Our #3 singled to score the runner, then stole 2nd. Our #4 then doubled her home and stole 3rd. With 1 out and a runner at 3rd, Mojo was up and represented the tying run.
She hit what appeared to be an apparent double down the right-field line, but because the grass had not been cut, the foul line stopped at the edge of the outfield and the ump ruled the ball foul. It was close and could've gone either way, but I would've preferred to see the chalk fly (or not).
On the next pitch, she hit a pop up towards first that looked like it would be caught in foul territory by the 1st baseman. She runs all the way up to 1st, but then suddenly stops and heads back towards home as the ball falls harmlessly to the ground in fair territory. The defensive coach is screaming at his player to grab the ball and tag the bag, which she does in time to record the 2nd out, while my player is looking at me asking what happened.
The runner did score from 3rd on the play, bringing the score to 4-3. Our #6 then hit a dribbler towards 2nd, but slow fielding allowed her to reach. She stole 2nd on a WP, but our #7 just missed beating out a slow roller to 1st as 1B gathered the ball just in time to end the inning, but what a dramatic finish to a really fun game.
***
After the game, we had a quick team meeting, and all the girls left totally psyched to get back on the field for our next game on Thursday.
And then I went and scouted all the other teams in our division.
It's going to be a very good year.
