Friday, September 5, 2014

Summer Baseball

We had a fun summer of BASEBALL! Every Saturday you could find us at the field for over 3 hours rooting on the Little Pirates and the Tigers! Mark coached both teams and did a GREAT job! 
Heath's team practiced and played first. Cohen was on the team again and Uncle Brad helped coach too! Heath's friend, Lincoln, from Preschool also joined The Little Pirates! 



It was amazing to see the growth from last year! They worked hard to stay in position and started to understand the rules of the game. 
Their focus was much improved! 

Nolan's team practiced and played after Heath's each week. 
Nolan's league was coach pitch. So each batter got 3 pitches, then if they didn't get a hit, they got to hit off the tee. 


My job was to wrangle this wild thing for 3+ hours each weekend. 

Brooks wanted to be in on the action too! 
We had some HOT mornings, which didn't add to the fun of managing Brooksie. But it's crazy to think that, possibly, next summer he'll be in uniform too! 

 We love that this league is still relaxed. The kids learn the game and develop skills, but it's not super competitive. Hence…three number 11's on the same team. They could pick whatever number they wanted that was available in their size. Weird, but whatever. 

Nolan's team had some really fun parents! After the team high fived their opponents after the game we would cheer and make a tunnel for the kids to run through. They loved it! 

There is just something about the way Heath runs. It's so cute! 

Heath's team practiced some coach pitch, but the games were t-ball. 

Nolan on 3rd waiting to run home. 

Each week, 2 kiddos were chosen to win a medal for a Sportsmanship quality that they exemplified. Nolan won his medal for HUSTLE! 

A few weeks later Heath won one for Cooperation! 

Grandma got to come watch them play 2 games! It was fun to have her there! 

Warming Up! 

Heath in ready position! 

Practice makes progress! 

Before the last games I snapped some pics of my cute ball players...

With their COACH! 

During the last practice Mark let each player demonstrate proper throwing technique with a water balloon…aimed at HIM! 
The kids LOVED this! And they also got to hit water balloons off the tee. 

Before the last game of the season i9 always does a fun PUMP UP to get the players excited for their game…
So fun! 

Also for the last game Heath's team played Coach Pitch. Heath did great! Here is a quick video of one of his hits! 

Heath's team after their last game! (They were short a few players.)
They celebrated with PIZZA! 

Here come the TIGERS!!!

Next up it was Nolan's team's turn to pelt Coach Mark with water balloons! 

 Nolan hitting his off the tee.
Can you see it in the air? It's blue and by Mark's right arm! 

The line up! 

One of Nolan's hits from the last game...

 The end of a great season! 

Thank you Oma for coming to all of their games...
let us show our gratitude with water balloons! 
Such a good sport! 

Nolan's team organized a pizza party at Little Ricci's! 

The parents treated us as a thank you for all of Mark's hard work! The kids love him! He does a great job of encouraging them and making it fun! He wants them to learn to love the game and realize how fun it is to work as a team and grow in skill and confidence. 

I'm so proud of my boys and the progress they made as players this season! They worked hard and had fun! And they are already talking about playing again next summer! 

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