A Nail Biter

We finally got to play baseball today! Our first district game. We didn't look good early. We got down 4-0, inched back 4-1. Then 5-1. Then 5-2, 5-3, 5-4, 5-5, 6-6. But in the bottom of the 7th we gave up a run on a passed ball.

Sigh.

Nathan got up three times--and out three times. But all three times he hit the ball, and one ending up being a sacrifice RBI in that crucial big inning. He also fielded the ball nicely at shortstop and threw the batter out at first.

Next game, he's on the mound.

Off and Running

We went to our first track meet of the year yesterday. It was sunny and beautiful--except for the 20 mph winds!

We aren't real sure what the coaches are thinking this year. They have taken Aaron out of the 1600 and 3200, where he has always done well, and put him in shorter races. Yesterday he ran the 800 and the 4 x 400 relay. He also did the triple jump.

He didn't do very well in any of those, but then again, most of the schools there were much larger than our school, so maybe he'll do okay come district. We'll see. We have two more meets before the district meet.

Rain has prevented baseball for the past week, but we're hoping to get a couple games in this week, so check back for those updates.

On the Mound

Nathan's team lost their game last night. He was the starting pitcher. Walked three batters in four innings but also had several strikeouts. Several fielding errors led to runs, so I'm not sure how many were actually earned by him. I guess if he's going to pitch, I need to learn more about that aspect of the game!

Anyway, the final score was 15-5, but they did play five innings, which was better than their losses in the tournament! His coach is pleased with their progress, knowing they have so much to learn.

We're off for spring break, but both baseball and track will begin in earnest after that!

Tournament Play

The varsity baseball team took the field for the first time this year in a tournament this weekend. Again, a young team, so we'll take our lumps. And in this tournament--a mish-mash of public and private schools--our lumps were the size of mountains! But we have a new, good coach who is very encouraging and is trying to get a feel for each boy's strengths and weaknesses before district play begins. So here's the run down.

GAME 1:

Our opponent in this game was a 5A public school JV team. It's a good thing it was JV--more equity in ages, although that didn't really mean much in the end. We lost 25-0 in four innings. Only two of our batters reached base--Nathan on a hit-by-pitch and his cousin Chris with a walk. One of our juniors hit a ball to the fence, but the outfielder caught it. And those are the highlights.

GAME 2:

We played a varsity team this time, but from a 1A public school. We played better, though we still lost 20-0 in four innings. This time we had several put the bat on the ball (Nathan hit a fly ball that the shortstop caught), and two of our juniors actually got on base with hits. Fielding was obviously still an issue, but Nathan pitched the final two innings and in those innings only gave up 4 runs, all of which were unearned.

GAME 3:

Well, our opponent (our district rival) didn't show, so we played the same team from game 2, but this time they played their 2nd team. And we made a game of it! I, of course, missed it. Aaron and I were on a local college visit. But I'll reconstruct the game a bit via Jeff's text messages. (Gotta love technology!)
We started well, down only 1-0 at the end of the 1st innings. In the second inning, Nathan bunted to reach first base, but we still couldn't score--until the third inning. Then we managed to hit one in and tie it, 1-1. In the 4th inning, Nathan was hit by a pitch for the second time in this tournament, but again, he couldn't get around the bases. 1-1 at the end of the 4th inning. In the top of the 5th, the other team scored two runs, but we answered with one, so at the end of 5, we were losing 3-2. In the bottom of 6th, Nathan reached base yet again, this time on an error by the 3rd baseman. He stole 2nd. Then he scored! End of 6, we were all tied up, 3-3. Top of the 7th and final inning, the other team scored, leaving us down by 1 going into our last at bat. We managed to get two on base and then one of our players ripped a single that scored both runners! WE WON, 5-3!!!!!!

I'm so thankful this ended on an up note for these boys. After those first two games, they were pretty down. But this should give them some confidence going into district play.

New Experiences

In the past couple of weeks the boys have had some interesting new experiences. Aaron participated in the academic competition for private schools in the spelling and persuasive speaking categories. He also participated in a debate tournament. His new ventures were not "successful" in the outward sense, but I was so proud of him for stepping out and trying new things. In fact, he enjoyed debate so much he said he'd do it again next year!

Nathan's new experiences involve art and music. He made a pottery vase (which I haven't seen yet) that received an honorable mention at our district art meet. He is really enjoying art and computer this year, even wondering if the fusion of those and his music would make a good career choice. Another new thing happened yesterday. He showed up to practice with the Praise Band and they discovered their bass player was absent. So Nathan played bass in chapel that day--the first time he's ever played the bass guitar! But my musician friends have always said a piano player that understands chords can move easily between instruments. I guess they were right!