Take Me Out To The Ballgame!

Many summer nights and long summer Saturdays were sucked up into baseball this year!  We were blessed to have a mild summer so it wasn't too hot and it was so much fun!  We are fortunate to belong to the YMCA here in Toledo and they have great sports teams!  Maxwell was on the CARROTS and Marin was on the BRAVES this time.  We always laugh about the fruits and vegie themed names for the teams - Marin got off good this time!

I love these shots of Maxwell with his too huge batting helmet, his backwards hat while he played pitcher, and his quick pace running from base to base!  The group shot is his team friends - Owen, Felicity, Mason, and Maxwell - they were so cute!  They truly loved to play and all us parents loved hanging out together!

Marin was amazing - she was the youngest and probably least experienced player on the team - but she never gave up!

She had two wonderful coaches, Coach Andy and Coach Marshall who both sacrificed many nights and weekends to volunteer for their team!  Their patience with Marin was amazing - teaching her to catch, throw, and hit the ball.  It was not t-ball this time, it was coach pitch and that was hard for her.  More than once I hugged both men and thanked them for their hard work.  I could see it was hard to them to be patient with her lack of skill but these men were giants in coaching.  I can not say enough wonderful things about them and the confidence they gave her this summer.  When she missed the tenth pitch - they threw it again.  When she did not know how to catch or throw - they persisted!  I was overwhelmed with gratitude when I watched them cheer her out of being in tears when she struck out, they never yelled when she missed a catch, and they always teamed up with her to practice tossing and catching.  So grateful to both men!!

When they gave her the end of season medal, they said she was the one player that never gave up and always kept smiling.  It was hard for her but she loved them so she loved to play for them.  I love this picture of her and her friend, Nathan - they look like brother and sister!!