Game time.. Entry 7

I never thought that we would either of our boys in Travel Ball, I would see the demands, the cost and the commitment and I would always shy away. An opportunity came about for our youngest son to play on a Travel Ball team with his first coach, so we went to try out and he got selected. They have been practicing a lot and this last weekend was their very first tournament. Going into the even my wife and I were not expecting Gabriel to have a lot of playing time since he is the youngest on the team, it would be an understatement to say that we were surprised by his playing time.

Gabriel started the first game at First Base, he played the whole game and played the position very well. He got 2 hits and struck out. His team lost that early game, but they did well for the first game. The second game he got the start as a pitcher. Here is the thing, Gabe can pitch, but with this league he has to pitch further than what he is used to and also the kids can steal. He went out there and did his thing, gave up some hits  and his defense was a little off, he got subbed out, but he was in good spirits understanding that there was not much he can do with the kids stealing, we have to work on pitching from the stretch and holding the runners.

The next day we got there and we were again surprised that he got the start and played the whole game at First Base. He dropped a few catchable balls but also made some really good plays and caught the pop up to end the game and secure the win. The second game played out like the one on Saturday. He played all game at First Base and did well. The other team was a higher level team and kept stealing and hitting. It was over for the weekend, 1 win, 3 losses. 

This was his first time playing a lot in a 2 day span, he did great. I am proud that he held up as long as he did, it was hot and a lot of innings were played. It's just the beginning here with this team. What's next is more practice and his Jerry Barry tournament. To paraphrase a quote from Ted Lasso, Baseball is life, and right now life is good.