play ball!

It's been a great month or so of baseball - Hamp's first real adventure in full-on ball play, with a pitcher and out-of-town games and a tournament and everything!
(ok, my first real adventure with it as well!)

As the low man (aka 8 year old) on an 8-10 year old team, he had a lot to learn and played a lot of outfield (!) but he soaked up the strategy of playing defensive baseball and got acquainted with trying to hit a pitch from a fellow youth ball player - not as easy as it seems!

As the parent, I had fun watching the team get better and cheering loudly for all their attempts and accomplishments. We had a great parent group that made it fun up in the bleachers, and great coaches ☺ that kept the team motivated and positive...

playing outfield... ready for that pop fly!?

"on deck"

listening to coach...

It was great having home games, because Gabe would come along to play at the park. He's such a good pup: he would say hello to everyone as - slobberlessly as possible - and maybe run amok for a little while until he finally wore out and just laid down for a nap!

But the main event was certainly watching Hamp play. He took it very seriously and certainly tried his very best. He didn't ever get a good hit but he was a smart batter and knew when to hold his swing. Consequently, he made it on base several times and even scored a few runs!

Yeah, I know I said he took it seriously.

I didn't mean ALL the time of course!

You can't blame an 8 year-old for dancing in outfield.... although if asked, I'm sure he would tell you he was catching an invisible fly ball or something!

And in the end... the team won the whole tournament!

They started the season 1 and 2. But they obviously gelled quickly into a pretty darn good team that could turn plays and make base hits good enough to win the rest of the season's games!

It was a great championship game - we were crazy proud of all these boys!