Baseball, Baseball, Baseball

Okay, so we have finally just given in. Tanner and Faith's Tball season is almost over. Tanner is itching to move on and get to pitching machine next year. Faith has no such desire and has already told us that she doesn't want to play again. She had such a great attitude and tried so hard this year, I'm a little disappointed that she didn't like it more.  She really improved over the course of the season, starting with needing Marisa out in the outfield with her and ending with getting a hit off of live pitching (I forgot to bring the tee) at our last game. She is a free spirit  and wants to do gymnastics or dance next. I think baseball might be a little too "square" for her.


Tanner could really have moved up to pitching machine this season, but has enjoyed playing TBall again. He was with his best friends, Evan and Gus. He was very excited that I forgot the tee and he was able to hit pitches. He hit three into the outfield and kept saying it was "his best game ever!" He is at an unfortunate age for our league and can't play again until next spring season. He is looking forward to playing flag-football this fall, though, and Marisa is trying to convince him to try swim team. He is definitely a good swimmer and just needs a little confidence to do it without his brother. 


Jake on the other hand has an exceptional amount of options at his age. He has had a great AAA season and is moving on to playing summer ball. 


AAA - Jake's team won their first playoff game last night, coming from behind to win in the last inning. Jake came up to the plate with us two run down, runners on 1st and 2nd and two outs. I thought Marisa and I were both going to die. He got to a full count quickly and I was just praying for a walk when he drove one out into center for a two run single to tie the game up. The next two guys up drove him in also and we won the game by two. He was named player of the game again and was just beaming as he game off the field. They are playing again on Saturday and he is just having a blast playing on this team and at this level. 05/19/2012 update - Season over :(. They ran into the best pitcher in the league when he was having an awesome day. They battled but ended up losing 10-3, Jake struck out twice. I told Jake it was just a baseball thing and he should be happy, because that pitcher is playing on his Outlaw team with him! It was a tough loss. They are having a team pool party tomorrow to celebrate a great season that ended one game too soon.


Outlaw - He was invited to play on a one month travel baseball team. This is an outlaw team (not playing in a league, but just tournament play) and is made up of invited 9 and 10 year olds from AAA. The manager is the All Stars Manager and he thinks Jake can make All-Stars as well. The team is only together for four tournaments and disbands the day before All Stars tryouts. Marisa and I struggled with this a little, but the commitment wasn't too bad and Jake really enjoys playing with this group of boys. He is the only third grader on the team, but really seems to play up to the competition and plays better with these kids than he has before.


All Stars - This one was A LOT tougher decision. This is a high level travel team with tryouts required. It is also solely tournament play and it most Fridays and Saturdays during June and July. Jake's age group isn't eligible, but this is the local team that can advance to the Little League World Series. A couple of years ago the Boise team went pretty far in the tournament, so this team is a big deal here. The League President is the All Stars Manager. If Jake makes All Stars, we will need to take days off to take him to tournaments and most weekends in the Summer will have some sort of baseball tournament activity. Marisa was dead set against it at first but watching him play lately, she has changed her tune and agreed to let him try out and the chips fall where the may. Plus the more into baseball he becomes the less likely it will be that he will continue with tackle football- which is a plus in our book.


Summer Ball - This is the lower level Summer season baseball. This is all scheduled Mon -Thur, with nothing on the weekends. It runs longer than All Stars and finishes up right before Football season starts. If Jake doesn't make All Stars, he would drop down and play in this league, which is basically the same level he is playing at now. If he does make All Stars, once the All Star season is complete, he can drop down and finish the Summer Ball season on any team he wants. This is possible because his very gullible father is the league director for Summer Ball this year.


So welcome to 2012, the summer of Baseball.