This spring Wyatt's rec ball team made it to the playoffs. Their regular season ended with a 4-6-1 record, so when Brian told everyone that we made it to the playoffs, there was a bit of a collective groan from the stands. Ha! Brian thought that this team was good, but they had some tough games. And by tough, I mean that in those 6 losses they had lost by a combined total of 8 runs. They were close games!
The first playoff game was on Tuesday, May 24th. They were playing a team they had previously lost to, but they came out ready to play and cheer on their teammates!
This guy caught a great game behind the plate. The umpire called him "Little Johnny Bench."
He also got some good hits! The first season of Kid Pitch is so hard. They're learning to hit off kids, they're worried about whether they're going to hit, sometimes they do get hit...it's crazy!
They won the game, and they were so excited and proud of themselves. It was a little nuts because it was also the week of standardized state tests, so some boys couldn't play the late games.
These 4 play Raptors Baseball together, and they're Dodgers together!
And more Raptors also had a playoff game (and won!) that night, so Ian stopped by to do some photobombing!
The next night (May 25th) is where the fun began. All of the other teams had looked at the Dodgers record, and assumed the boys would be out. Brian and the other coaches did a great job encouraging the boys (and their parents), that they could do this! They just needed to be reminded how close the scores had been, and they needed some good pitching. The next game was against the team that they had tied during the regular season. They were nervous, and it was a battle, but they won!
And enjoyed a popsicle as a bonus! Ha!
On the 26th they all came in pumped to win. The other team really thought that they were going to be playing the team we'd be the night before, and their expectations were probably pretty low. Brian was stressed out thinking about pitching and the boys' arms and pitch counts, but these boys managed to win again and were headed to the Championship game!
They were all on Cloud 9. Floating in the air, I tell you! If only they could have played the next night to keep the magic alive. This picture has a combination of unwashed socks, heart guards, entire uniforms, etc. thanks to the magic of superstition in baseball!
The Championship game was the following Wednesday (June 1st). And the Dodgers ended their season with a loss. If there's one thing people know about Wyatt, it's that he's competitive, and he takes every game seriously. Sometimes too seriously. But, he comes by his um, "competitive tendencies" honestly. It was a tough game. For him. For his team mates. For his dad and the other coaches. Reese's team had their party that night and I didn't think that he and Brian were going to come. BUT they showed up. And while we were there we (literally) ran into one of his favorite high school players (his mom is one of Reese's very favorite people at her school), and he had also just lost a big game. And he told him, "it's just another loss." That helped him tremendously. His face lit right up. And when we got home we got some ice on that welt on his arm!
It was a really great season for the Dodgers! But it didn't end there for Wyatt...next up was All Stars!
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