Yesterday was a great day for (local) baseball

[Dr Batsen D Belfry]

I run a division in one of the local baseball leagues, and have two boys that play at two different age groups. Yesterday, we all had an awesome day.

My younger son is 8, and not only practices with his team, but he practices with and plays for his older brother's team when he gets the chance. Once of the other coaches let him hit in batting practice on Friday, and fixed his swing. As a result, he had his most solid hit of the saeon yesterday.

My older boy is 10 and is in his first year of Little League. He never played t-ball, and never was coach-pitched, so he has always struggled at the plate. Yesterday he had his first solid hit, a line drive to right field resulting in a single and two RBIs. He was so happy. To top it off he got the game ball from his coaches and finally got some respect from his very talented teammates.

The day was even bettter though. There is another boy on another team who is 12 and is playing baseball for the first time. He has tried numerous other sports, but because of his size, he has struggled and not found much enjoyment. This kid happens to be 6'2" and is easily 250 lbs.

His two head coaches, who have a combined 70+ years of coaching in the league, have worked on his batting all season. In the game prior, he finally hit one off the fence, but he really wanted a homer. Yesterday, he got up and swung at the first pitch. As he ran to first, he watched the ball go over 220 feet and over the hill on one bounce. To make it better, the bases were loaded.

Every single person at the field, regardless of age or team, was cheering madly for this kid. Fans ran to the bench to give him high fives. In my 3 years in the league, it was easily the best day at the field.

DBDB