The 2013 baseball season has come and gone in our house. And it was an interesting one...
To be honest, I was a little nervous because this was the first year that ALL 3 boys were playing and, of course, they were in three different divisions: T-ball, machine pitch, and kids pitch. I wasn't sure how we would juggle games on different fields at the same time, but it all worked out just fine.
Nathan's games were always on the same field and always at 6 p.m. Evan's games were always on the same field and always either at 6 or 8 p.m. Ryan's games were on different fields, but his games were always at 6 p.m. And we only had an occasional Saturday game thrown in here and there, which was awesome!
The season opened with the parade down Main Street and as usual, there were WAY more people in the parade walking than there were people spectating! As you can see, this pic was "pre-summer" haircuts...
Doesn't Ryan make the cutest catcher EVER??!? The jury's still out on whether he liked this position because he actually liked playing catcher or because he didn't have to make much effort to actually get the ball...
Nathan's first game...so stinking cute!
One of the strangest things about this baseball season was the ridiculously cold FREEZING temperatures we had to endure for all of Evan's night games. I'm talking winter hats, gloves, scarves, coats, long underwear, extra socks and blankets kind of cold! Some of those 8 p.m. games, we were on the field until 10:30 (thank goodness they were weekend games!) and the temperature would drop into the mid 30s/low 40s. It was crazy cold, but it was fun.
Ryan is under there somewhere....
Can you see the "Feels Like" temp on this Weather Channel app screenshot??????
Nathan and Ryan both had decent seasons. They both improved a lot and became decent hitters towards the end. Evan, on the other hand, had a disappointing season. His division changed this year, so he was one of the youngest kids on his team in a much more competitive game. There were many games in which he sat on the bench for 2+ innings. Mark and I struggled, too. It was really hard to watch him be disappointed and discouraged every game.
More than anything, I think I was frustrated and disappointed in the coaches. Yeah, I know they're volunteers and they are doing their best, but we're talking about 10, 11, and 12 year old kids. Let everyone take a turn sitting out an inning. Let everyone have as many opportunities to hit as possible. Let everyone rotate and play infield and outfield. These kids are not being drafted into the Major Leagues any time soon. Let this Little League experience be a learning experience and let it be FUN! I'm sorry, but there's no reason for anything different at this stage. I am hoping and praying that Evan is put on a team next year with coaches who believe that!
Evan's playing coach's pitch baseball for the first time this year.
