State Tournament

Nathan's baseball team, the Twins, had a really good season! They came in second in their league and so they advanced to the state tournament! They played 3 games in Payson earlier this week, and if they won 2 of them, they would advance to the next round.

Last year Nathan's team also went to the tournament, and we got creamed! Even though we were at a different location, I was expecting a similar outcome. Fortunately, this year was much better -- the teams were more of an even match.

We were winning the first game fairly soundly. Then the last inning two of our key players started making some cocky mistakes, and we ended up losing by a run! We won the second game -- it was close the whole time, but we won! The third game was really intense. Both teams had each won a game, so whoever won this game would advance to the next round. The Twins did really well at the beginning, and I was starting to arrange my schedule in my head to work around the next game. And then the momentum shifted, and we lost by a couple of runs.

Nathan got to pitch a little bit. He is also an amazing 3rd baseman, and during the tournament he made a few big plays at 3rd! Congratulations on a great season, Nathan! You have worked hard and it is fun to see your talents growing!

Play Ball: Joshua

Joshua is enjoying his first year of baseball. He is at the age where they do T-ball, but sometimes his coach will pitch to him. He knows many of the kids on his team from school, and it has been great that Coach Brady is our backyard neighbor!

It definitely helps to have 2 older brothers . . . you can tell that he knows what to do a lot more than most of his teammates! They take turns getting to play the different field positions, and I was very impressed today when he got to play catcher. He has been listening to his dad tell Nathan's friend that "your job as catcher is to not let that ball get past you"!

getting ready to run to 3rd base

Pitcher Perfect

Nathan had a very exciting baseball game last night! After Jordan, our team's main pitcher got tired, they put in another teammate. Our team, the Twins, was in the lead by over 10 runs, but they started to catch up. The replacement pitcher did okay for a batter or two, but then he was walking everyone and the score kept getting closer. So the coach switched him out and brought in the second replacement pitcher. Again, he quickly started walking everyone and our lead was diminishing quickly.

earlier in the game

Then the coach called a timeout, and suddenly Nathan was being called to the pitcher's mound! He has been practicing to be a pitcher. But after he had a rough start at the beginning of a game for his first time ever pitching, the coaches have not had him pitch since. I know he was excited, but also probably really nervous. There was a lot of pressure! This was the last inning of the game, and they had no outs. There really aren't any other kids on the team who have trained as pitchers, so I didn't know what the coach would do if Nathan had a rough time.

Nathan was AMAZING! He pitched really well, usually getting the ball right in the strike zone. He walked 2 players, but he also got 1 strike-out, caught a fly ball for an out, and fielded a grounder and threw it to first base in time to make the out. I was one proud momma, and he was so excited! Best of all, the coach now knows that he can count on Nathan to be a pitcher for our team -- hopefully Nathan will get the chance to pitch many more times this season!

Play Ball: Benjamin

Benjamin is in the machine-pitch league this baseball season. He is not into the sport as much as Nathan is, but from what I can tell he is enjoying it. (Nathan wasn't excited about baseball when he was in this league, so I guess I shouldn't compare them.)

He does really well with his fielding. He knows what to do with the ball when he gets it. He is a funny baseman, though, because he talks to the runner. In his stern "Benjamin voice" he tells them that they better not step off the base until the ball is hit!

This is the first year the city has done machine-pitch. It used to be coach pitch. I appreciate that the coaches are not busy pitching and can be there to help their team. But there are still a lot of things to work out with the machines! You would think that as long as no one changed any settings, they would be fairly consistent from one pitch to the next. Unfortunately for the kids, sometimes the ball is pitched too short, sometimes too long, and once in a while it will be right to them. The rule is that they get 5 pitches -- no matter the quality of those pitches! So Benjamin has been frustrated that he has struck out a lot so far this season. But as you can see, he sure tries his hardest to hit the ball!

Hey batter batter!

Baseball season is in full-swing! Nathan has two games, plus one to two practices each week. It keeps us busy, but it is fun and he loves it!

So far he's done fairly well with batting. He has a good enough eye that he can usually either hit the ball or get walked.

at bat; he's number 2 this season

waiting at 1st base

coming up on 3rd base