Play Ball

After much debate we allowed Mac to play Bill Bond coach pitch baseball instead of t-ball this year.  Technically he missed the age cutoff for coach pitch but the majority of the 1st graders make it, so Bill Bond said it would be no problem for Mac to go ahead and play up.  Matter of fact they encouraged it {probably because they knew my firm would sponsor his team!}.  6 weeks into practice and the first 5 games under our belt, I can confidently say we made the right decision.  Mac loves baseball and has learned so much more than he ever would’ve learned in t-ball.  His team is AWESOME and is currently undefeated.  Mac is the youngest on the team and by no means the best player, but he regularly makes contact with the ball and rarely strikes out.  He plays out field and knows who his cutoff person is and what he is supposed to do when the ball comes to him.  His coaches are amazing and really spend time teaching the kids the rules of baseball and techniques needed to make them better players. 

Opening day is a big day with all the teams introduced and the local Wahoos mascot present to cheer them on.  All the teams play their first game that day, and Mac was pretty excited to wear his new uniform!  I think it was the 2nd or 3rd game where Mac had a pretty good hit to the 2nd baseman who bobbled it and then overthrew it to 1st.  They sent Mac on to 2nd base but the 1st baseman quickly recovered the ball and made a great throw back to the 2nd baseman who attempted to tag Mac out.  The ref called Mac ou,t and we watched his hands fly into the air in disbelief.  He kept saying “WHAT?” to the ref, but eventually stormed off the field.  Angry tears were flowing as he came back to the dugout, and he was yelling that the ref was a liar and a cheat {not our proudest moment as parents}.  One of the assistant coaches pulled Mac aside and said he saw the whole thing and agreed the kid didn’t tag Mac.  Mac was still so mad at his next at bat that he fired a ball way into the outfield.  Its was and still is his best hit of the season thus far.  Clearly we need to get Mac mad before he is up to bat!  The next day I got an email from one of our coaches that said the coach from the other team came up to him after the game and said he felt bad for the kid who got so upset when called out at 2nd b/c he saw the whole thing and their kid definitely did NOT tag Mac.  It was a little bit of sweet justice to know Mac wasn’t acting like a fool for no reason, but also a great opportunity for Mac to learn that there are good calls and bad calls but no matter what the ref’s call stands. 

Mac has come a long way in 6 weeks and I can’t wait to see where he is at the end of the season.  3-4 days a week of practice plus 1-2 games per weeks means we all spend a lot of time at the ball field, but I have to admit I love being there almost as much as Mac does!