Baseball season has begun!

Tom is a Head Coach this year and loving it—he’s always wanted to coach and now he’s getting the chance. He already knows most of the kids on the team since they’ve been on previous teams.

Owen’s first at bat got him on base! His second got a hit but it was a pop fly that got caught. He was part of a few double plays. He had three RBIs and we won 8-6!

And this was what Katie spent lots of time doing:

Another baseball championship!

First games of the season were so hot you couldn’t stand it. Today? We’re in winter coats, gloves, and blankets!

They won 13-3 in six innings!

Owen getting his trophy!

We didn’t get any great team pics this season due to social distancing and temperature.

It was the last game together for these boys. Aden is transferring to a different city team and Jackson is moving to travel ball. Jackson’s dad is the head coach which means he’s moving to be with his son…so that means Tom has decided to be the head coach next season!!

We’ve started baseball!

It isn’t quite the same as there are only three teams (instead of like six), spectators need to stay six feet apart (and wear masks to and from the fields) and the boys can’t sit on the bench and also need to stay six feet apart when not in the field…but it does feel good to have a little bit of normalcy again. Tom is once again an assistant coach.

Owen thought he wanted to also catch this year but after doing one game and his back hurting (!) he opted to stick with pitching (and of course he loves first base but they still get rotated through all positions).

They don’t quite manage to stay six feet apart, but at least we’re outside in the sun and fresh air.

Here’s a compilation of some of Owen’s game time today. Papa requested some as they won’t be able to make it to a game this season.

Red Hots win! Congrats to the GYB fall champs!

Owen’s team won the fall championship in a 19-17 nail biter today! They were up a few and then down by 10 (and we thought the game might get called by the slaughter rule), then we caught up, then they caught up, and then we were ahead by two and held them off!! Owen did his thing on 1st and caught the ball for the final out of the game! We are so proud of all the boys!!

Here’s a few pics from the game. Owen on second.

A typical sight: tying shoelaces.

Attempting to steal home. I can’t remember if he did or not.

Katie was being punished for earlier transgressions at home and had to sit by me the entire game, so I got these.

The game was stressful to watch because the score was so back-and-forth. But once we came back from being 10 runs down, the entire mood changed and it was a real game!! We were ahead by two going into the top of the seventh inning so we expected they’d score and we’d have to rally in the bottom of the seventh (and last) inning but the boys held them off!

I was taking pics of the last plays and got these. They aren’t great because the fence was in the way, but I love the progression of the excitement, then the boys coming in from the field, then throwing hats in the air! I wished I had gotten a shot of Owen actually catching the ball but it is what it is.

Award ceremony!

TEAM PHOTO!

Funny team photo!

Running the bases (Owen led the way)!

Friends. 💕

Coaches Tom, Ken, Jamie (Head Coach), Mark

Happy boy!

Happy daddy!

Fun with Coach Jamie!

And then it was off to Culver’s to celebrate!

It’s been at least 25 years…

So today the boys’ baseball game was cancelled due to flooded fields but we took a few of the kids for some pitching and batting practice.

At the end I decided to pick up a bat and try hitting some pitches from Tom. I haven’t tried batting in probably 25+ years so I thought it would be a complete shitshow. Needless to say I surprised everyone there when I hit most of them!! They were underhand pitches but still…

I will need Aleve and margaritas later today but I have to admit it was fun!!

Cardinals got second place!

Congrats, Cardinals! Nothing wrong with second place after your amazing season!


BACK: Assistant Coaches Mark, Eric, Adam, Tom, and Head Coach Jamie
FRONT: Mason, Eli, Owen, John, Aden (Old Man), Jackson, Reuben, Jaiden, John, and Wyatt

I could not be more proud of this team of boys. To be perfectly honest, they started out on shaky ground and we didn’t have much hope for the season. But then a miraculous thing happened…they practiced, they learned how to work together, and they exceeded all our expectations and ended up in second place in their division!!

Watching them play was a joy (and also completely nerve-wracking as the mom of a pitcher)!! And it warms my heart to see my boy with 10 new best friends, my girl with almost as many player sibling friends, and my husband and I with a handful of new friends as well.

Of course they were disappointed that they didn’t win (especially since they’d won the last few games by a wide margin) but they took it in stride and were great sports.

And then it was off to Culver’s to celebrate!! Yes, Katie loves being right in there with all the boys!! But she moved to the girls table one everyone arrived!!

And a friend sent me this… love these kids.

Successful coaches party!

We wanted to have a party but inviting the whole team seemed overwhelming so we just invited the coaches and team mom. And it was awesome! Everyone was able to come (minus one kid who had a sleepover already planned) and we all had a great time! The party didn’t break up until midnight!!

It’s not a margarita and I’m surviving! Go me!!

Tom making the other guys want a smoker and a flame thrower. Mark was even Instagramming it!! 😂

And of course, fireworks.

This might have happened late in the evening.

2019 Cardinals are headed to championships this week!!

The day was gorgeous, Katie was cute as a button, and I had my real camera, so we’ll start with a few pics of her.

Some of the coaches!

The best place to try and get pics (since I can’t be on the field) is beyond the first base in the outfield. Telephoto to the rescue! I love in the first pic you can seem him looking at Tom!

Pitching!

Getting a pep talk from Coach Dad!

Warming up for the next inning. I finally just went and stood in the dugout to get a few closeup pics.

This is what Katie does for most of the game!

Batter up! (He got walked.)

We won! Now we are off to the first round of championships!!

It’s baseball season!!

After a few rained out games, today was the first game of the season! Owen is one of the better kids on the team (it’s about half and half of kids with experience and kids with none). Owen was tagged to be a pitcher and catcher—and of course he’s still awesome on first base! Check out these amazing catches during practice!

Tom loves being there to help coach every practice and every game!

Owen was the very first one up to bat! Talk about a nervous mama. đŸ™‚ But I shouldn’t have worried—he got a base hit on the second pitch!

And then—SURPRISE!—he was pitching! He didn’t do too badly!

More first-base coaching from dad!

And then—SURPRISE!—he was a catcher! Again, didn’t do too badly! (My knees hurt just watching!)

I honestly don’t remember if we won or lost—there’s no scoreboard and they do know at the end of the game but I’m writing this two weeks later. I think they lost since the other team was quite good… But the kids all had a lot of fun!