County Tournament

Grant's team had their second game in the county tournament last night and to say it was a nailbiter would be an understatement. The game was tied after 5 innings so we had to go into extra innings. The other team (WT Sharks) were up to bat first and thanks in part to a poor throw on my son's part (he plays catcher) and a missed catch on the first baseman's part we ended up down 3 runs. The bad thing was we knew the first baseman was the first batter up in our half of the inning and he was crying because he hadn't made the play at first. Doesn't paint too bright of a picture when your first kid up to bat is that upset!

He did manage to make it to first baseball (only to be tagged out as he tried to slide home, but we managed to load up the bases. The other team had only one pitcher, so he was TIRED and couldn't get the ball over the plate. The bottom of our order was up. Jay told the boys to go up there and NOT SWING THE BAT....it was HILARIOUS to LISTEN to him tell the kids "DON'T SWING THE BAT" and then have them swing anyway! One of the kids on the teams grandfather was watching and was LAUGHING and kept saying "what this, he is going to swing!" AMAZINGLY, they listened well enough to get themselves on base. The final batter in our order was up at the plate with 2 outs. Jay again said "DON'T SWING THE BAT!" and we all breathed a HUGE sigh as the 4th ball crossed the plate! We walked in the winning run!

It was hard to watch the pitcher from the other team cry as he left the mound. The weight of the world (or at least so it seemed to him) was on his shoulders. It is this point in the season where it really shows if a coach has developed any depth to his team.

So we advance to the semifinals in the tournament. The next game should be quite a battle. Hopefully I won't be the one with a crying child at the end of our next game! Hard to believe that baseball season is almost over! We will be putting on those football pads and helmets before I know it!