Hey Batter, Batter..

I LOVE this time of year! Who can deny the warm wind, fresh mowed grass and a baseball field newly chalked and ready to be played on? The memories of my many softball seasons flood back. I was probably about 5 when I started playing and stopped around age 21. Sixteen years! I can actually remember some of t-ball..starting out on a field that pretty much consisted of a backstop and a field of grass. Moving to softball and playing on my first real field. We were terrible as the "Dale Darlings" winning only one game and improved very much in the years to follow as the "Dale Pirates". We won 3rd place in state, 3 years in a row. "Play together, Win together" was our motto. Dad coached me, along with my grandpa for a year or so and my best friends dad for several years. Then off to high school and college teams. I learned so many good lessons from playing.

 T-ball

My best friend and I after a tournament

Now we are off on a new adventure. Benjamin is in his first ever season of "tigerball". This is a mix of coach-pitch and T-ball. I am so excited for him and hope that he will really enjoy it. We want him to be involved in the things he chooses. He had the choice between this and soccer and he chose this...can't say I was disappointed. :) He had his 1st practice last week and really enjoyed it. He has asked to play catch several times this week. I can't believe he is so big. It seems like yesterday that we were rolling him a ball on the floor. Now we go to practices and he runs to the field from the car...not even caring if we walk out there with him. He doesn't need us to make friends or to soften coaches directions. It is very encouraging. I love who he is becoming. He learned in Upward Basketball the most important thing is his Christlike attitude and I am excited to watch him carry that over. Sure, we will have moments to use, that we will encourage his confidence and redirect his attitude and heart... but isn't that one of the great things sports can be used for.

Things we are working on with him include holding his glove the right way for a fly ball vs. a ground ball and  "squishing the bug" while batting. It has been funny trying to figure out if he is right or left handed. He always tells us he can use both, and he can, but you can't really switch your glove. For now, he is throwing right handed and batting both. He looks more comfortable batting right handed though. His team name is the Giants. We got his first pair of cleets, which he really wasn't thrilled about at first. What a sweet little man! Can't wait to watch him learn how to put the whole game together. On a side note, Elizabeth and Isaac love to play while he is practicing and quickly made friends with all of the other brothers and sisters. It is amazing to watch how open children are to meeting and befriending others. I hope we can encourage this in them as they grow.



Playing the field

Batting

Rounding 3rd