Wordless/WORDFUL Wednesday ~ Our Hero!

It was another typical CRAZY night for us last night. The girls had a figure skating lesson and CJ had a baseball game. All of the girls (including Grandma) headed off to figure skating, all of the boys (including Grandpa) headed off to the baseball game. The plan was to meet up at the baseball field for the second half of the game.

I thought this was going to be an easy game for our guys because they had beat this team pretty easily in the first game of the season. To my surprise when we arrived at the baseball field the score was 2 - 8 in favor of the other team.

The girls walked over to the bleachers and settled in to watch the rest of the game. It was the top of the 4th inning. The other team parents let us know that the score had been 0 - 8 at the end of the second inning. I was still really surprised by the score, I considered the possibility that our guys might lose, but was still hoping they could pull out a win.

Our pitchers had a little trouble in the 4th, giving up a few hits and letting the other team score 3 more runs. Now the score was 2 - 11.

The Dodgers game up to bat in the 4th inning ready to play. The other teams pitchers starting having a lot of trouble. They were inconsistent, threw a few wild pitches, and walked a bunch of our players. The walks along with a few hits earned the Dodgers 5 runs in the 4th inning. Now the score was 7 - 11.

At the top of the 5th inning our closing pitcher did an awesome job. He struck out the first two batters, walked the 3rd, and struck out the 4th.

Now, it was time for the Dodgers to get back to work. The umpire called last inning at the beginning of the 5th. The team knew this was it! They were down by 4 runs, they had to score 5 to win, and there is a 5 run rule in the in the 5th inning.

The other team continued to have trouble with pitching. Their pitcher walked a bunch of our players, eventually walking in 3 runs. Now the score was 10 - 11. Our next batter struck out, giving the Dodgers the first out of the inning. Next, the Yankees pitcher threw a wild pitch, our coach sent the runner at 3rd to steal home, the catcher picked up the ball, ran to home plate and tagged our runner out! 2 outs! The next Dodgers batter to come to the plate took a walk. Now, it was CJ's turn to come up to bat.

It was the bottom of the 5th inning (the last inning of the game), there are 2 outs, the bases are loaded, the score is 10 -11 in favor of the Yankees. CJ walks to the plate. Before the first pitch, the coach gives CJ a last minute pep talk. The coach looked him in the eye and said "are you ready to be a hero?" CJ walked to the batters box, got in position, the pitcher throws the first pitch, it is short and low, it hits the dirt in front of home plate. CJ gets back in place, gets his batting stance just right, the pitcher delivers the second pitch, CJ swings, he hits the ball, it sails down the first base line (staying fair), lands on the ground and rolls about 1 foot from the fence. All of the base runners score! The parents and players went crazy! My kid was the hero of the game! He took on the pressure, put together everything that he had learned about baseball, and got the best hit of his Little League career. It was so exciting to see my own kid get high-fived, body slammed, and congratulated by his teammates. I was so excited for him!

Final Score

Dodgers 13 - Yankees 11

CJ shows off his first game ball!